Thrower’s elbow is one of the best-known youth overuse arm injuries.
Thrower’s elbow and medial apophysitis
Thrower’s elbow usually describes overload on the inner side of the elbow in young overhead athletes. It commonly affects cricket, baseball, softball, and tennis players who throw or serve often, especially during growth spurts or busy tournament periods.
One common diagnosis is medial apophysitis, often called Little League elbow. This happens when repeated valgus stress irritates the growth area near the medial epicondyle. Children may report inner elbow pain, loss of throwing speed, soreness after sport, or tenderness that keeps returning. If your child’s symptoms clearly build with overhead sport, compare them with throwing injuries, baseball injuries, and cricket injuries.
Osteochondritis dissecans and joint surface injury
Osteochondritis dissecans can affect the capitellum of the elbow in young throwing athletes and gymnasts. It involves damage to the bone and cartilage surface and may cause deeper elbow pain, catching, locking, stiffness, or loss of range.
This is more serious than a simple overload flare. Stable cases may settle with unloading and staged rehabilitation, but unstable lesions sometimes need specialist review. For a related PhysioWorks page, see juvenile osteochondritis dissecans.
Growth plate stress injuries in the arm
Growth plate stress injuries happen because immature bone does not tolerate repeated load as well as mature tissue. These injuries can affect the shoulder, elbow, wrist, or hand and deserve attention because delayed diagnosis can prolong symptoms and, in rare cases, affect growth.
Examples include little league shoulder, little league elbow, and gymnast’s wrist. Children often say the arm feels sore during sport, improves with rest, then flares again when training resumes. A spike in throwing volume, too many teams at once, or heavy tumbling loads can all contribute.
Gymnastics upper limb injuries in youth athletes
Gymnastics places high load through the arms because they act as weight-bearing limbs during skills such as handstands, tumbling, and vaulting. This repeated loading can stress the wrist, elbow, and shoulder, particularly during growth spurts.
One of the most recognised conditions is gymnast’s wrist, which involves irritation of the distal radial growth plate. Athletes may report wrist pain with weight-bearing, reduced tolerance to training, or soreness that builds across sessions. Elbow and shoulder overload injuries can also develop with repeated tumbling or high training volumes.
These injuries often behave differently from adult conditions. Growth plate irritation is more common than tendon problems, so early load management is important. If symptoms are persistent, compare with wrist pain or shoulder pain pages to guide next steps.
Common gymnastics-related arm injuries
- Gymnast’s wrist (distal radial growth plate stress)
- Elbow overload and osteochondritis dissecans
- Shoulder overuse injuries during tumbling and bars work
- Repetitive strain from high training volume
When should you worry about youth arm injuries?
You should worry more about youth arm injuries if pain follows a fall, causes swelling or deformity, keeps returning with sport, wakes your child at night, or leads to locking, catching, numbness, or clear loss of strength.
Get your child assessed sooner if they have:
- Rapid swelling or visible deformity after trauma
- Ongoing pain over a growth plate
- Clicking, catching, locking, or loss of motion
- Numbness, tingling, or noticeable weakness
- Pain that keeps returning despite rest
If the pain is local to the elbow, it may also help to review the broader elbow pain cluster. For public health advice on youth throwing safety, the official Pitch Smart guidelines are also worth reviewing with parents and coaches.
How are common youth arm injuries treated?
Most common youth arm injuries improve with the right diagnosis, short-term load reduction, and a gradual return-to-sport plan. Treatment usually focuses on settling irritation, protecting the injured area, restoring strength and movement, and fixing the training or technique issue that caused the overload.
Physiotherapy may include shoulder and elbow strength work, trunk and hip control, wrist or forearm loading, mobility work, technique advice, and staged return to throwing or tumbling. Management is not one-size-fits-all. A child with growth plate irritation needs a different plan from a child with a fracture, instability, or osteochondritis dissecans.
FAQs about common youth arm injuries
Can children get tennis elbow or golfer’s elbow?
Sometimes, but classic adult tendon problems are less common in younger athletes than growth plate irritation. In children and early teenagers, inner or outer elbow pain often needs careful review to rule out apophysitis, instability, or overload at a developing structure.
Is arm pain during throwing normal in kids?
No. Mild muscle soreness can happen after sport, but repeated pain during throwing is not something to push through. If pain changes speed, accuracy, confidence, or willingness to throw, the load or diagnosis needs to be checked.
What sport causes the most youth arm injuries?
Throwing and overhead sports create a high elbow and shoulder load, so baseball, softball, cricket, and tennis are common triggers. Gymnastics also places high stress through the wrist and elbow because the arms become weight-bearing limbs.
Do growth spurts increase the risk?
Yes. Growth spurts can change movement control, flexibility, strength balance, and tissue tolerance. That means a training load that felt fine a few months ago may suddenly become too much for a growing athlete.
Will my child need imaging?
Not always. Many overuse injuries can be suspected from a careful history and physical assessment. However, X-ray, ultrasound, or MRI may be appropriate if there is trauma, suspected fracture, locking, persistent growth plate pain, or concern about osteochondritis dissecans.
How long should my child rest?
That depends on the diagnosis. Some mild overload injuries settle with short-term load reduction and a graded rebuild, while growth plate injuries or joint surface injuries may need a longer break and closer progression. Rest alone is not enough if the load problem is not addressed.
What to do next
If your child has ongoing arm pain with sport, do not rely on guesswork. Start by reducing the painful activity, note exactly what triggers symptoms, and avoid pushing through repeated elbow, shoulder, or wrist pain during growth.
A physiotherapist can assess whether the problem looks like overload, a growth plate injury, joint irritation, or a more significant sports injury. Early guidance often shortens recovery and helps young athletes return with a safer plan.
