polka dots?

Hello there! It’s been a long time since I’ve posted on here and Ashley wanted me to give you a little update on how baseball is going and how my new arm is holding up.

            Spring Training officially started this week and with that begins the 2015 season. Things are going well as I’m approaching being back to 100% game ready which should be in about a month and half, give or take. For those who know a little bit about the game, I’ve been throwing Live BP’s (batting practice) and will soon advance to simulated games.  Finally after that I will be able to throw in an ACTUAL game, after a very very long year of not playing.

            Now to explain the oddly shaped and colored circles on my right arm… My wife instantly sees them as polka dots, not shocking, its one of her favorite patterns. Unfortunately for her, I’m not sporting a fresh polka dot tattoo but rather the after effects of a treatment on my arm called ‘cupping’. Put simply its like a deep tissue massage. The purpose is to improve circulation to that area and help with the healing process.  A little glass ‘cup’ is placed on the injured area and the skin is sucked up into the cup using a suction pump. Then you leave the cups on for about 10 minutes. It looks like this.. 

Then after you look like this…

As to whether I’m a firm believer in the treatment is hard to say. I did feel better the next day but that could have been due to a number of different things. But I’m willing to try a procedure that the training stuff believes will help my arm feel better and get me back on the field faster.