Some serious problems in the shoulder start with symptoms in the biceps muscle.  Don't ignore the signs!

The biceps muscle is a small but important muscle in terms of shoulder-injury injury prevention.  One of its two heads inserts on the inside of the shoulder socket.  If the biceps gets fatigued or tight, it can put an undue amount of stress on the shoulder complex.  Paying attention to the biceps is critical to your shoulder health. Learn how to take care of it and most of all learn how to listen to it when it is talking to you.

• Does your biceps hurt when you throw (especially after ball release)?
• Does it have a pattern of feeling sore when you first start throwing and then feel better after it’s warmed-up?
• Is it unusually sore after you pitch? 
• Does it seem to take a long time to recover? 
• Is there this one spot on the upper part of the biceps that when it’s sore, you have trouble taking off your hat or touching the back of your head?
• Is your arm sore right above or below the elbow crease?
• Do you have trouble straightening it?
• When you look at it, does it seem flatter or smaller than your non-dominant arm?

The biceps stabilizes the arm during early and late cocking and it also decelerates the arm after ball release.  Anytime you have deceleration-type contractions, the tissue undergoes a greater amount of stress than during any other type of contraction.   Often times, the biceps doesn’t heal fully before it needs to perform again.  Over time, this can cause weakness, a loss in muscle size, and a difficulty with recovery. 

Most importantly, understand its importance and do not ignore it.  Get to a health professional if you have any symptoms that you are unable to eliminate.