Injury - go all forehand or just lay off?

[PMantle]

I did something bad to my right side. Ended up in urgent care last night. Muscle strain vs. "rib out of place". The Dr. said, "I don't move ribs, but some of my osteopath friends do."

Anyway, RHBH with any power at all is a no-go. I suck in a major way with forehand. Not even sure I would have fun trying to play, but I can do that with no pain. Use this time to develop a better forehand, or just take a break and practice putting?

[JR]

I don't have medical training but i'd take at least a a week off from any kind of training to be sure. If it is something serious much more time might be needed but if a bone is out of place it needs to be diagnosed and reset before any practice. There's no telling what kind of muscle, joint and nerve damage you could do with training if the bones are out of place not supporting the body staying upright. Instead possibly cutting or tweaking soft tissues. No joy. From your post i could not decipher if the doctor gave you a definite diagnosis either way just muscle problem or bones being misplaced or if he even arrived at a diagnosis. I've tweaked my back and it can take months to become pain free working in a job that strains the back. Despite doing rehab.

[Mark Ellis]

I did something bad to my right side. Ended up in urgent care last night. Muscle strain vs. "rib out of place". The Dr. said, "I don't move ribs, but some of my osteopath friends do."

Anyway, RHBH with any power at all is a no-go. I suck in a major way with forehand. Not even sure I would have fun trying to play, but I can do that with no pain. Use this time to develop a better forehand, or just take a break and practice putting?

An injury took away my backhand and I started learning forehand. I never went back and have been forehand dominant for the last 16 years.

I have always been aggressive about rehab, doing as much as I could and letting pain tell me when to stop. Some players take 2 weeks off for a cold. I don't know which is the better way. The pain reflex tells you what you can get away with, why not rely on it?

Many players have learned their opposite hand due to injury and that skill stays with them. Why not learn a new skill? How much better are you going to get on the couch?

Watch a few videos. Find a teacher. Go out and experiment for a while with a buddy. I'm not sure why playing a round all forehand would not be fun. You have nothing to lose. I have played All Rollers rounds on courses which are not roller friendly and had fun. I have played All Overheads rounds too. Learning skills is fun.

[PMantle]

My concern is tearing what's torn or strained even more, making my lay off even longer.

I will go play. I will get better at forehand. I will get better at rollers. I actually need both at my course. Thanks.

[keltik]

PMantle at your age I would just take time off.

[JR]

I went into surgery because my pain was not alarming until the next day. Some types of traumas don't present pain responses until later once the swelling has started. My example of this problem came from a torn membrane surrounding a tendon seeping out muscle and tendon fluids into surrounding tissues opening a way for harmful bacteria to get into the tendon causing an inflammation. The breeding ground for virii so bye bye the benefits of antibiotics. The surgeon that operated me said that i had one of the worst injured tendons with among if not the most scarring he had seen. The scars pressed nerves and that lead to many nasty things. Pain schmain but not being able to sleep much at all and only 1.5 hours tops for a year ain't nice. And the pain was nothing to laugh at. It blocked breath at times the longest i measured was 104 seconds without being able to inhale.

Naturally i've been more wary since because the trauma has inlflamed many times before i got better and stronger to avoid overdoing things. And i did push through pain in rehab and training to get new inflammations the longest of which stopped me from throwing for half a year. Do you feel lucky and want to play? Or should you get a clear picture of what is wrong? Somehow i think it could suck if a broken rib punctured your lung. That is probably not your case because you'd be in howling pain probably without being able to inhale enough to howl but you get the picture.

[PMantle]

PMantle at your age I would just take time off.

Sneezing pain this morning dropped to 4/10. The Dr. said he did not recommend total rest, but then said, don't do what caused it in the first place.

[PMantle]

Somehow i think it could suck if a broken rib punctured your lung. That is probably not your case because you'd be in howling pain probably without being able to inhale enough to howl but you get the picture.

X-ray confirmed no fractures.

[JR]

So it is likely soft tissue damage then and applying cold should help. Nerves stop transmitting pain at around 40F but of course removing the cooling agent allows the body to warm up the nerves soon and overdoing will cause you to get cold and coughing. Not a nice future. Many ailments benefit from mild moving such as a slow walk to remove gunk and reintroducing oxygen into the hurt tissues which alleviates the cause of the pain. How soon one can start to move carefully and slowly with little resistance depends on what is wrong and only professionals can suggest a safe rehab timetable and exercises and how hard you can do them.

[PMantle]

For whatever reason, the forehand motion, or at least mine, produces no pain at all. I can even make short backhand throws. Anthing involving a reachback and full turn is where the trouble starts.

[JR]

Not being a professional i have no idea what would be safe so i'd say that whenever you start to move and throw i'd start out with way under max power and short and build up slowly so that you don't get worse injuries from pushing too much too early. I've lost a year minimum more like over a year and a half for starting out too hard too early after injury.

[PMantle]

Agreed

[Stringbean]

What caused the rib to move out of place? Did the strained muscle essentially pull the rib out of place?

[PMantle]

What caused the rib to move out of place? Did the strained muscle essentially pull the rib out of place?

I am not convinced a rib is out of place at all. That was just a possibility.

Played 18 today at lunch forehand. I hope this doesn't last too long. Only 4 pars.

[Mark Ellis]

Not being a professional i have no idea what would be safe so i'd say that whenever you start to move and throw i'd start out with way under max power and short and build up slowly so that you don't get worse injuries from pushing too much too early. I've lost a year minimum more like over a year and a half for starting out too hard too early after injury.

Every situation is different. Due to fears of lawsuits we expect doctors to recommend rest. Why not? It costs them nothing. What does a doctor care if your game suffers?

Decades ago I took a physical to join the volunteer firefighters in my community. The doctor said he couldn't allow it because I had a heart condition. I had anticipated this answer and handed him a full waiver of liability. He signed off on me without hesitation and admitted it was only the fear of being sued which caused him not to sign initially.

Five years ago I started cross training with a personal trainer. The doctor said my heart condition excluded me. I handed him and the facility a waiver of liability. Boom, no problem.

Every situation is different. I tore a muscle in my throwing side a decade ago. Four days later I played in a major tournament throwing only with a hyzer motion, the only forehand motion my body would tolerate. A couple days later I played in an overall tournament and threw in the distance event, again only with a hyzer motion. What long term disability did I suffer? None. A couple weeks later I could throw flat and a couple weeks later I could anhyzer. What long term benefit did I gain? I learned the hyzer flip shot much better since it was the only line I could throw during my recovery.

I know some players break a leg and finish tournaments. I know some will blow out an arm and finish with the off arm. I'm not that crazy. If my ailment causes me not to be competitive then I won't waste my time and slow up the field.

Play or rest? See a doctor or rehab on your own? The older you get the more you know your own body and its limits. Oh, by the way, at least according to this article our instincts are pretty good. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/01/fashi ... ealth&_r=0