Posted by: Concerned (nospam@nospam.org) on Mon Sep 19 09:52:33 2005

Our 10-yr old son was just diagnosed with what the MD called a "subluxed rib". My net surfing indicates this might be similar to "strained" or "sprained" ribs, caused by hard twisting motions or by a hard blow.

We'd been practicing hitting last week, & a day or two afterwards he'd complained of tenderness in his upper LH chest (something he's felt before, but it was nothing compared to what he's feeling now, & corrected itself in a day or two). We've been working on his rotational swing, and I'm wondering if the hitting practice could have caused the problem. Also, regrettably, he didn't do much in the way of warmups before hitting (we warmed up his throwing arm, but didn't prep for plate work). I'm pretty certain THAT will change in the future.

The season's over for us now, & he's not pitched for a couple of weeks; last night he pitched a bit just for practice & today the pain is quite a bit worse than yesterday, so perhaps the throwing aggravated things.

Some questions for anybody who's had similar issues:

1. Has anybody here had a similar problem caused by hitting (or baseball in general)?

2. Was the pain lower or higher in the ribs, & on what side? My son's pain is at or above his left breast. I find this a bit odd, as he bats left-handed; I'd have thought there'd be pain on his right side as that side (in my purely non-medical opinion) would be more succeptible to larger movement than the left, as the LH side "seems" to move less while in the slot for a leftie batter.

2. How long did it take to heal? The poor guy's on codeine right now, and really going through h3ll.

3. Does this injury indicate he will be more susceptible to same in the future? Could it limit his playing ability (like a shoulder injury, say)?

4. If hitting (or throwing) is indeed the cause, how do we prevent recurrence in the future? Should we review his swing or throwing technique, etc.? What about purchasing a lightweight chest brace to help safeguard the ribs from future injury?

I realize this post might be more applicable on some healthcare website, but I thought the possible link with hitting should be shared with those visiting this site, ESPECIALLY if there are measures or methods to help prevent the issue.

We're trying to get an appointment with a local sports rehab clinic, so hopefully some of these questions may be answered then. I'll post any relevant info to this thread.

Many thanks in advance to anyone who's had similar issues & could respond to this.