Tucson Physical Therapy Clinics Partner with Youth Baseball League to Teach Injury Prevention

TUCSON, Ariz. - June 10, 2013 - PRLog -- Ideal Physical Therapy, an outpatient physical therapy clinic with five locations in Tucson, announced today it has partnered with Kino Baseball League to reach out to parents and kids attending and participating in various leagues at Kino Sports Complex this summer about proper training techniques and how to avoid common baseball-related injuries.

Ideal Physical Therapy’s Tucson-based physical therapists and athletic trainers will be available to answer any question at a branded tent at Kino Sports Complex during most of Kino Baseball League’s 177 games in June and July. Kino Baseball League features games nearly every day of the week at Kino Sports Complex for Babe Ruth Baseball League 13U, 14U and 15U divisions, Connie Mack Baseball 18U Varsity division and the Sun Belt College League for collegiate players from Southern Arizona and surrounding states. Kino Baseball League will also host the Arizona State Babe Ruth Baseball League 14U and Pacific Southwest Babe Ruth Baseball League 15U Regional tournaments in July.

“Ideal Physical Therapy is proud to partner with Kino Baseball League this summer,” said Lawrence Herrera, a partner physical therapist at Ideal Physical Therapy’s Silverbell Clinic in Tucson. “We have professional and knowledgeable Physical Therapists, Physical Therapist Assistants and Athletic Trainers in our clinics who are interested in the health and well being of our Tucson community. Tucson has a history of being a great baseball community and we are pleased to assist in keeping athletes in the Kino Baseball League healthy and on the field.”

Herrera is quite familiar in how to prevent injuries on the diamond since he earned his Bachelor’s degree in Athletic Training Education from New Mexico State University while also serving as an infielder on the Aggies’ baseball team. He later earned his master’s degree in Physical Therapy from University of Texas at El Paso.

The most common baseball injuries Herrera sees in teenagers are overuse of shoulders and elbows (tendonitis), ligament strains (sprained ankles) and muscle strains (hamstring strains) due to the intensity of play they are involved in. He says pitchers, inparticular, develop tendonitis in their elbows or shoulders due to learning new pitches and having poor throwing mechanics to deliver the baseball.

To avoid these common injuries, Herrera suggests teenage players learn proper warm up and stretching techniques as well as proper throwing mechanics for a variety of positions on the diamond. He also suggests learning proper cool down techniques for after practices and games so players can prevent overuse injuries, particularly pitchers icing their shoulder and elbow and catchers placing cold compresses on their knees. Parents should also learn all of the proper techniques to avoid injuries so they can make sure their children remain on the field.

The primary goal of Ideal Physical Therapy is to improve patients’ quality of life by providing rehabilitative and restorative services to promote pain relief. With 18 physical therapy clinics located throughout Phoenix and Tucson, Ideal Physical Therapy employs physical therapists specializing in all forms of physical rehab, including services such as hand therapy, sports physical therapy and orthopedic physical therapy services to promote recovery from hip, elbow, knee, neck and shoulder surgery and conditions. Ideal Physical Therapy’s latest computerized patient care technologies maximize the overall patient experience and increase the quality time spent with a physical or hand therapist.