Batter Up! Watch Your Feet!
It’s baseball season! It doesn’t matter if you’re watching your kids round the bases, enjoying a minor league game or supporting your local major league team, the sound of that bat as it hits the ball sends hearts soaring. Baseball has it all, catching and throwing balls, rounding the bases, jumping, diving, fancy footwork, running faster than imaginable, stealing bases, avoiding being tagged out or struck out, catching high fly balls, and hoping the other guy misses the ball. As we watch, every fan vicariously slides to the bases with each of the players. We wait patiently, breathlessly, for that one perfectly hit ball to become a home run. America’s favorite past-time is thrilling, and it can be very rough on your feet and lower extremities.
The American Academy of Podiatric Sports Medicine and the American Podiatric Medical Association prepared a terrific article to help baseball players avoid injuries. We posted part of the article below along with the article link so you can read it. The article also includes additional helpful hints to help you select the best cleats for your feet.
Baseball is an American family tradition that we love. If you’re playing on a team, make sure you stretch and take good care of your tootsies. If you’re watching the game, enjoy!
American Academy Of Podiatric Sports Medicine
Baseball And Your Feet
America’s Pastime
Based on a document produced in cooperation with the: American Podiatric Medical Association.
Preventing Baseball Injuries
One of baseball’s most exciting moments comes when a batter stretches a single into a double by beating the tag in a dust-kicking slide. Sliding is a fun part of the game at all levels, but proper technique is crucial to avoiding foot and ankle injuries, especially when bases are firmly secured to the infield. Coaches at all levels should make sure their players are well schooled in proper sliding. Careless slides can result in sprains and even fractures of the lower leg and feet.
Pitchers also need to be coached on the proper way to come off an elevated mound with their back foot and land on an incline with the front foot. The repetitive motion of pitching can lead to overuse injuries to the feet and ankles. Pitchers experiencing pain in their windup should take a few days off before returning to the mound.
Catchers too are susceptible to overuse injuries by squatting behind home plate for every pitch. Again, coaches should teach their catchers how to alter their stance to vary weight displacement.
Today’s trend of trying to achieve perfection by year round sport participation may result in an overall increase in injury. This is not just a lower extremity phenomena but is often seen in young pitchers having both elbow and rotator cuff injuries serious enough to lead to surgery while still in high school.
Lower Extremity Injuries and Treatment
Contusions. A baseball will inevitably make contact with a player’s foot and ankle, whether it’s a pitched ball, foul tip, or line drive, and sliding base runners often run headlong into a infielder’s legs. Usually this contact results in contusions, which are not often serious injuries. Ice packs and a few days’ rest will usually help the contusions, or bruises, feel better.
Sprains and fractures. Stretched or torn ligaments, known as sprains, can occur from running the bases, or pivoting to make a play. Sprains may cause extensive swelling around the ankle just like a fracture. Immediate treatment from a podiatric physician is crucial to quick healing. Fractures, where the bone has cracked or broken, often require casting. After a sprain or fracture, a podiatric physician can prescribe a rehabilitation regimen to restore strength to the injured area before returning to the sport.
Plantar fasciitis. Catchers are particularly susceptible to arch pain, commonly traced to an inflammation called plantar fasciitis, on the bottom of the foot. A podiatric physician can evaluate arch pain, and may prescribe customized shoe inserts called orthoses to help alleviate the pain.
Heel Spur Syndrome. A related condition, to which catchers are also susceptible, is heel spur syndrome. Often related to plantar fasciitis, heel spur syndrome occurs when the plantar tendon pulls at its attachment to the heel bone. This area of the heel can later calcify to form a spur. Many times the ligament pulling on the heel creates the symptoms, and not the spur itself, especially after getting up from resting. With proper warm-up and the use of supportive shoes, strain to the ligament can be reduced.
Achilles tendinitis. The stop-and-start of baseball often creates pain and tightness in the calf, and aggravation of the Achilles tendon. Again, regular stretching of the calf muscles gently and gradually before and after the game will help minimize the pain and stiffness.
Shin splints. Shin splints usually stem from an inflammation of the muscle and tendon attached to the shin, caused by stress factors. Treat shin pain with cold compresses immediately after a game to reduce inflammation. Proper stretching and strengthening exercises should prevent the onset of shin splints
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