Pitcher’s Shoulder

Posted on by Grayson

Every so often, I get what I like to call pitcher’s shoulder. Basically, it feels as though my shoulder is detaching from torso. This feeling generally starts in the lower neck – sometimes as a crick, other times on it’s own – and moves down to the top of my shoulder. This movement also causes the top of my arm to ache terribly and can make it near impossible to move, let alone do anything else. Occasionally the pain will move down my arm until it hits my fingers.

When I was younger and didn’t so much understand my body, I used to try and stretch out my shoulder to the point that I would pull muscles in my arm. Needless to say, I’ve grown smarter since then and have since stopped using that method.
It is hard, though, to know how to take care of this kind of injury. There is a reason, though, why I like to call it pitcher’s shoulder (apparently I’m not alone in this). The only real thing that helps my shoulder is to play catch. Unfortunately, I don’t always have the ability to play catch, so here are some alternatives that may help you out if you also experience pitcher’s shoulder:
  • Icy Hot products
  • Heat therapy patches
  • Pro-Ice wrap (expensive!)
  • Rest (apparently that’s supposed to help, but never does for me)
  • Working out. If you strengthen the muscles in your shoulder, it shouldn’t happen as often. This is a nice concept in theory, but not entirely accurate for those of us with Still’s.

Since I can’t go play catch by myself at the moment, I’m using the Wal-Greens brand of hot patches. It’s not helping a ton, but it feels a little nicer at least. Pitching really is the best way to work out this pain.

Edit: If you’re coming across this sometime after 2019, I have hypermobility and the pain I’ve described here is from a subluxation or dislocation.

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