shoulder injury

It could just cause a painful bruise, or it could break something like the clavicle (collarbone). I have a friend who broke a collarbone a couple of years ago. It was painful but she was still up and about.

Going to the ER would depend a lot on whether they suspected bone damage or other serious injury. The next day would probably mean a trip to the kid's regular doctor first.

And remember, there's no crying in baseball!

Full disclaimer: I'm not a doctor or medical expert.

I have no experience with baseball, but I remember watching a medical show where they reenact actual medical issues, and some kid got hit in the head with a baseball and got a concussion.

A cousin of mine broke his clavicle in football and he was about 16. I remember shortly after he broke it, my family and I went to his house and my cousin was in his parent's room watching a movie, just taking it easy. Within a week and a half or so, I think he was up and about.

For a 16 year old, I would think a bone-bruise would be suffice. It's not a break, but it hurts!

Once upon a time! The wind grabbed the car door and slammed it right on my thumb. It hurt soooo bad. My brother urged my parents to take me to the E.R. because he recently broke his hand and thought I very well could have broken my thumb since the pain was excruciating and not going away. I hurt my thumb at about 9-10 in the morning and finally went to the E.R. at 6-7pm. They took x-rays and said it was a bone bruise. I can't remember how long it hurt for, but I think within two to four days the pain resolved and I was fine.

I'm coaching t-ball this year, and the YMCA required me to take a few online training courses, one of which was on concussions and another just on general sports safety. A lot of it was geared towards players who are much older than my preschooler, but anyway...

According to the courses I took, if the injury made him fall hard and jostle his head, the coach should take him out of play and encourage the parents to take him to a doctor, just to get him checked over and rule out a concussion (the baseball itself doesn't need to hit him in the head.) If he doesn't fall, the coach might still encourage the parents to take him there (or send him there himself if parents aren't present) depending on how he reacts to the injury.

On the other hand, we've all heard of coaches who encourage players to "take one for the team," whether the player is obviously overreacting or obviously seriously hurt.