(Volleyball Shoulder)

(img.medscape.com)

A common injury for avid volleyball players is... *drum roll please* Volleyball Shoulder! Go figure. The medically correct name for this is Suprascapular Neuropathy. It is thought to be caused by float serving because a player must stop their follow through directly after contact for the best effect.


Symptoms: Common symptoms include a report of deep, dull, aching pain, weakness or lack of endurance when preforming overhead sports specific activities, pain when stretching your arm across your body, and pain caused by pressure. It often seems at first like a rotator cuff problem and can sometimes be mistreated.


Human Anatomy Involved: The suprascapular nerve in the Brachial Plexus of your shoulder. The brachial plexus is a group of nerves running out along the shoulder and down the arm a little past the shoulder.


Treatment: Rest and ice is all you can really do for it. A sports injury specialist though can put you on a rehab program involving exercises for shoulder stability and rotator cuff strength. They can also help you modify your activities to decrease symptoms and pain.


Prevention: There is no solid evidence as to what could prevent this injury. Medical experts are not even sure exactly what causes the injury. The only thing to do really is to stop float serving. Try using a top spinning serve with a full follow through.