Different Treatment for Different Injuries

 Charles Clement, Chiropractor

One of the most common injuries I hear about (I also coach and umpire) is the sore elbow in the younger pitchers. A very brief , simple lesson in anatomy is necessary here...

• The hand is made up of nineteen (19) bones
• The wrist of eight (8) bones,
• The lower arm of two (2) bones
• The upper arm of one (1) bone.

All these bones are held together by ligaments (a tough fibro-elastic material with very little stretch) which allow a certain amount of movement, and all these bones work in harmony one with the other.

Muscles are attached to the various bones by means of tendons and a muscle ALWAYS crosses a joint, and the contraction of a muscle is what creates movement. There is a lot more to this but I will keep it simple as the ideas are important and not a deep knowledge of anatomy.

The sore elbow that a younger player, or even an older player, often sustains, is usually the result of the twisting action of the wrist where the two lower bones of the arm join the wrist. In most cases, the twisting action, (throwing a curve for example), has the effect of twisting or rotating the bone on the thumb side (radius) towards the outside of the body and the WHOLE bone moves from the wrist to the elbow. This then causes pain in the elbow as the nerves in the elbow object to being irritated.

The chiropractor will be able to determine if this is a tear or simply an abberant movement within the joint and if it is, a quick manipulation will clear the problem. If the chiropractor determines it is more than that, she/he will refer the player to an orthopaedic specialist for a more complete avaluation.

Among the other conditions I have seen on the field...

While umpiring a softball game in a girls league (and before you laugh because it was girls -I once saw, in a tournament, a solid ground ball hit to CF, only to have the CF charge the ball and fire a strike to first base and throw the runner out-55 foot basa paths) come sliding into second. She did not use the figure four slide but came in with both legs out straight in front of her, (poor coaching), and as the umpire at second base, I was on top of the play and saw her ankle twist violently, and heard a high pitched scream. Before her coach was able to run out to second base, I had examined and adjusted (a chiropractic treatment) her ankle at which time she stopped crying, walked, then ran, and was able to continued in the game with no after effects.


Another thing I have seen many times is a catcher whose arm was so sore that he were unable to return the ball to the pitcher. Again after a chiropractic adjustment, the catcher was able to throw out every runner who dared to try stealing second base.

This page is an effort to have parents and coaches realize that sometimes a chiropractic adjustment is what is required but only a chiropractor who has studied to be a chiropractor (four years of post university schooling and two years of interning) is capable of deciding if a given injury is within the realm of chiropractic. This is not to negate the tremendous job done by the doctors, or physiotherapists or sometimes a parent.