The return to play protocol for overuse injuries, we tend to, no matter if it's an upper extremity or a lower extremity, we tend to give them little bits at a time. If it's an upper extremity injury, we decrease activity til pain goes away, then we slowly increase activity day to day, as long as the symptoms don't reoccur. The first day or two, we might have them throw 15, 20 times, if it's a shoulder type thing. If no symptoms reoccur, then we might increase that slowly, day by day. Normally we try to get them in about a seven to ten day return to play, with something like that, and if they have no symptoms after that, we go ahead and clear them.
Similar with that, with lower leg, we tend to slowly increase their activity also. We decrease activity until pain goes away, then we'll slowly increase it. One day we might walk for 15, 20 minutes. The next day, we might bike, ride the elliptical, and then we eventually would like them to run again.
