Sims: 2 Weeks Sounds Optimistic For Mark Teixeira's Wrist Injury
By Abby Sims
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Mark Teixeira, who will be 33 next month, sustained a right wrist strain while batting off a tee before a World Baseball Classic exhibition game on Tuesday. Though it was said he would likely miss two weeks of action, Teixeira will undergo an additional workup in New York after which the precise diagnosis and course of action will be determined.
The term strain implies a stress injury to either a muscle or tendon that entails a stretch beyond the capacity of the tissue. The trauma sustained can range from mild (grade 1) to severe (grade 3). The lesser grade 1 and 2 strains are often referred to as "pulled muscles" while a grade 3 strain is a complete rupture of the involved tissue.
In contrast, a sprain also entails stretch, but to ligaments rather than muscles or tendons (which connect muscle to bone). Ligaments connect bone to bone in order to provide stability at joints. Sprains are also graded from 1 (mild) to 3 (complete rupture). The worse the sprain, the less stable the joint involved will likely become since ligaments are not restored to their original length after sustaining the trauma of being stretched.
The media references to Teixeira's injury noted the involved area to be his wrist -– a joint, while also pointing to a diagnosis of strain. This doesn't totally compute. Either he sprained ligaments at his wrist or strained muscles and tendons that act to move the wrist.
Either way, depending on the severity of the injury, Teixeira will have to rest and possibly immobilize the area in a removable splint before beginning to strengthen and work his way back to baseball activities.
Two weeks sounds very optimistic.
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When do you expect to see Teixeira back? Be heard in the comments...
