For Athletic Recovery & Performance

Kathy Ryan-Ceisel, PT MHS | Algonquin Sports PT Overhead Throwing Expert-Athletic Edge and Wellness The playoffs are here. The intensity is higher, the games mean more, and every athlete wants to be on the field. But this is also the time of year when the small aches and pains that have been manageable all season can start turning into significant injuries. A sore hamstring. A stiff ankle. A nagging hip or groin. A knee that hurts after practice. A shoulder that is getting pr

Kathy Ryan-Ceisel, PT MHS | Algonquin Sports PT Overhead Throwing Expert-Athletic Edge and Wellness Edge A knee injury can take an athlete out of competition in a split second. A collision on the football field, a sharp cut on the soccer pitch, a twisting landing on the basketball court, or a fall while skiing can place excessive stress on the knee and injure one of its primary stabilizing ligaments: the medial collateral ligament (MCL). MCL sprains are common sports injuries

Kathy Ryan-Ceisel, PT MHS | Algonquin Sports PT Overhead Throwing Expert-Athletic Edge and Wellness Edge Volleyball players are often thought of simply as athletes who hit, serve, block, and dive—but volleyball is also an overhead sport that places significant demands on the shoulder, elbow, spine, hips, and lower extremities. Repeated serving, attacking, and blocking require the body to produce and control force overhead, often hundreds of times during practices, tournaments

Kathy Ryan-Ceisel, PT MHS | Algonquin Sports PT Overhead Throwing Expert-Athletic Edge and Wellness Edge Not all ankle sprains are created equal. When an athlete says, "I rolled my ankle," many people immediately think of the common lateral ankle sprain involving the ligaments on the outside of the ankle. But there is another type of ankle injury that deserves special attention: The high ankle sprain, or syndesmotic sprain. High ankle sprains involve the ligaments that connec

Kathy Ryan-Ceisel, PT MHS | Algonquin Sports PT Overhead Throwing Expert-Athletic Edge and Wellness Edge Softball Is Not Just Baseball Played Underhand Softball athletes have unique physical demands. For fastpitch pitchers, the windmill pitching motion requires highly coordinated movement through the lower extremities, hips, trunk, shoulder, elbow, and forearm. Because the motion looks different from an overhand baseball pitch, there is sometimes a misconception that softball

Kathy Ryan-Ceisel, PT MHS | Algonquin Sports PT Overhead Throwing Expert-Athletic Edge and Wellness Edge Why Baseball Physical Therapy Is Different Baseball places unique demands on the body. Throwing, hitting, sprinting, cutting, sliding, fielding, and repeated competition require an athlete to generate force, transfer that force through the body, and then control it. For a throwing athlete, the arm is only one part of the equation. The throwing motion involves a coordinated

Kathy Ryan-Ceisel, PT MHS | Algonquin Sports PT Overhead Throwing Expert-Athletic Edge and Wellness When athletes need sports physical therapy in Algonquin, IL, they need more than a traditional rehabilitation program. They need a team that understands how their body needs to move, how their sport places demands on the body, and what it takes to safely return to competition. At Athletic Edge and Wellness, we specialize in sports physical therapy and performance-based rehabili

Kathy Ryan-Ceisel, PT MHS | Algonquin Sports PT Overhead Throwing Expert-Athletic Edge and Wellness Edge Groin strains are common injuries in athletes—particularly in sports that require sprinting, acceleration, deceleration, cutting, kicking, jumping, lateral movement and rapid changes of direction. They can be particularly frustrating because an athlete may feel relatively good during everyday activities but still be unable to tolerate the high-speed, high-force demands of

Kathy Ryan-Ceisel, PT MHS | Algonquin Sports PT Overhead Throwing Expert-Athletic Edge and Wellness Edge Hamstring strains are one of the most common injuries in athletes—particularly in sports that require sprinting, acceleration, deceleration, jumping, kicking, cutting and rapid changes of direction. They are also one of the most frustrating injuries for athletes because feeling better does not necessarily mean the hamstring is ready for full-speed sport. An athlete may be

Kathy Ryan-Ceisel, PT MHS | Algonquin Sports PT Overhead Throwing Expert-Athletic Edge and Wellness Edge Returning to throwing after an injury, surgery, or extended period away from baseball is not simply about “getting the arm loose again.” It is a progressive re-loading process. The shoulder, elbow, forearm, trunk, hips and legs all have to progressively tolerate the forces created by throwing. The athlete must rebuild not only strength and mobility, but also the capacity

Kathy Ryan-Ceisel, PT MHS | Algonquin Sports PT Overhead Throwing Expert-Athletic Edge and Wellness Edge Returning to Throwing Is More Than Following a Timeline Returning a baseball or softball athlete to throwing after an injury is much more complicated than simply following a calendar or protocol. An athlete may be pain-free, have full range of motion, and look strong in the clinic—but that does not necessarily mean the athlete is ready to tolerate the demands of throwing.

Kathy Ryan-Ceisel, PT MHS | Algonquin Sports PT Overhead Throwing Expert-Athletic Edge and Wellness Edge For baseball and softball athletes recovering from injury, simply being pain-free does not mean they are ready to return to throwing. A structured Return-to-Throwing Program is designed to gradually expose the arm to increasing stress while monitoring the athlete's response. Throwing is a high-speed, high-force activity that places progressively greater demands on the shou

Kathy Ryan-Ceisel, PT MHS | Algonquin Sports PT Overhead Throwing Expert-Athletic Edge and Wellness Edge A lateral ankle sprain is one of the most common injuries in sports. Athletes can sustain an ankle sprain while running, cutting, jumping, landing, sliding, changing direction or simply stepping on another player’s foot. Because many ankle sprains initially feel better within a few days, athletes often make the mistake of assuming the ankle is “healed” before the ligament,

Kathy Ryan-Ceisel, PT MHS | Algonquin Sports PT Overhead Throwing Expert-Athletic Edge and Wellness Edge Baseball and softball players spend countless hours strengthening their rotator cuff, monitoring throwing workloads, and protecting their elbows. Yet one of the most important structures in the throwing motion is often overlooked: The scapula, or shoulder blade. Scapular dyskinesis—an alteration in the normal movement, positioning, or muscular control of the scapula—has em

Kathy Ryan-Ceisel, PT MHS | Algonquin Sports PT Overhead Throwing Expert-Athletic Edge and Wellness 🖐️ Wrist pain doesn't get the same attention as a sore shoulder or a barking elbow, but for baseball and softball players, it can be just as disruptive. Hitters lose bat speed. Pitchers lose command. Position players start pushing throws instead of snapping them. Wrist tendinitis is one of the most under-diagnosed overuse injuries in throwing and swinging athletes — and if it'

Kathy Ryan-Ceisel, PT MHS | Algonquin Sports PT Overhead Throwing Expert-Athletic Edge and Wellness Your Neck May Be Affecting Your Throwing Arm When a baseball or softball athlete complains of a tight upper trap, neck stiffness, shoulder discomfort, arm fatigue, or even vague symptoms into the hand, the neck should not be overlooked. The cervical spine is an important part of the kinetic chain during throwing. A pitcher must be able to rotate the head and neck while simultan

Kathy Ryan-Ceisel, PT MHS | Algonquin Sports PT Overhead Throwing Expert-Athletic Edge and Wellness A fall onto the point of the shoulder is one of the most common reasons athletes end up holding their arm against their chest on the sideline. Often the first question is "did I separate my shoulder?" What they're really asking about is the acromioclavicular (AC) joint — a small joint at the top of the shoulder that takes a disproportionate amount of abuse in contact and collis

Kathy Ryan-Ceisel, PT MHS | Algonquin Sports PT Overhead Throwing Expert-Athletic Edge and Wellness Shoulder Instability in the Overhead Athlete The shoulder is designed for an extraordinary amount of movement. That mobility is essential for throwing a baseball, serving a tennis ball, swimming, spiking a volleyball or performing an overhead movement—but it also comes with a tradeoff. The more motion an athlete needs, the more important dynamic shoulder stability becomes. Shou

Kathy Ryan-Ceisel, PT MHS | Algonquin Sports PT Overhead Throwing Expert-Athletic Edge and Wellness Golfer's elbow isn't just a golf injury. It can affect golfers, baseball players, softball players, tennis players, climbers, weightlifters, throwing athletes, and people whose jobs require repetitive gripping and wrist movements. The medical term is medial elbow tendinopathy, and it affects the common flexor-pronator tendon origin on the inside of the elbow. Like tennis elbow,

Kathy Ryan-Ceisel, PT MHS | Algonquin Sports PT Overhead Throwing Expert-Athletic Edge and Wellness Tennis elbow is not just a tennis injury. It can affect tennis players, baseball players, golfers, weightlifters, manual workers, mechanics, musicians, and anyone who repeatedly loads the muscles and tendons on the outside of the elbow. The medical term for tennis elbow is lateral elbow tendinopathy (LET). Despite the common name "lateral epicondylitis," the condition is genera