Icing arms?

I was taking your advice even as you posted it.

 

That Will Always Be !!

You will always have pros and cons on every issue of life. Eat this don't eat this, drink this, don't drink this...the main thing is use common sense,and don't abuse your body or maybe it will abuse you.


Guru has spoken !!

 

What causes the soreness in pitching arms is usually the result of buildup of lactic acid. After pitching, the flushing of the lactic acid is imperative---usually done by running and a cool off period (walking.)

There is a lot of information dealing with lactic acid, but icing is not one of them.

Icing has historically been the process of choice after pitching, but as in everything, more information has been provided that offers alternatives. Personally, I like ice if applied immediately for 10 minutes just to reduce swelling, but the flushing of lactic acid is the important ingredient in reducing or eliminating arm soreness.

 

Milk, Ice Cup & Ice

Best advice we have received in this area was from a former SEC pitcher. She said she always had one of her parents or a teammate use hand lotion to "milk" the lactic acid out of her pitching arm. She would hold her arm above her head while her helper massaged her arm down.

Then she would use an ice cup for roughly five minutes on the arm and shoulder. The ice cup is simply a styrofoam coffee cup filled with water and then frozen. In order to ice the area, peel off roughly 1/3 of the top of the cup, hold the bottom of the cup and rub away. This helps with a deeper sensation of the initial icing.

Then finish off with 10-15 minutes of traditional icing on the shoulder, arm and elbow.

Obviously, there are arguments on both sides of the "ice or not" argument. I remember reading an article about Cat Osterman taking "ice baths" in large trash cans after she pitched. Personally, we ice.

 

My DD has tried both icing and not icing.Her recovery time is definitely shorter when she ices.10-15 minutes shoulder and elbow.

 

Ice it like an ACL knee...

Our pitcher from last season used an ice packet similiar to what a player would use for a POST OP ACL injury. My DD had a large knee pad that filled with ice water thru hose connected to a cooler. This was used so we didn't have to keep changing the ice all the time to help with POST OP swelling. Fill the cooler with ice water, connect the hose to her knee pad, the knee pad fills with ice water from the cooler surrounding the knee, kept the knee cool and help control swelling.

So...DD gets to HS ball after knee rehab and the pitcher had the same contraption as my DD, only it wrapped her shoulder and upper portion of her pitching arm. After every game she would put it on and connect a hose to a cooler filled with ice water. Her Dad would hold the cooler over her head, the ice water filled her shoulder pad surrounding the area with ice water, cooling and helping prevent swelling after a game. It was great. The cooler itself it about the size of a basketball. She did this after every game she pitched.

If you want to know exactly what it was and where to get one PM me and I'll call her Dad and forward the info. Hope this helps.

Actually, I forgot I have a picture of her wearing this thing on her shoulder after a game.

 

If you can get the info and perhaps a picture of it and post it on here, I know a lot of people would find it informative.

 

The CRYO CUFF

Here's the picture of Leesville Road pitcher Kristen Zimmerman with her Dad applying ICE water to her pitching shoulder after every game. Here Dad said she would never pitch without it. Learned this through a TB coach who had shoulder surgery. Dad said they had to go through an Orthopedic Doctor to get one. Called a Cryo Cuff. Hope this helps.

 

Thanks for all the help guys. I am definitely going to have my girls ice. I just have to figure out by what means. The more options I have the better off I will be. If it helps save one girl from having problems later on it is worth it to me. I know I have seen some of the best in the world icing so I figure I have nothing to loose. Again thanks and I will be back with more questions.

 

Dont forget to develop the opposite muscles in the shoulder. The conditioning of ONLY the muscles used to pitch will create a muscle imbalance in the shoulder and can result in shoulder injury. Icing is good but inadequate conditioning of the counter muscles is worse. Rubber band type exercises will help to build those "other" muscles.