Being a professional athlete doesn’t stop you from falling victim to problems of the spine. In previous articles we’ve talked about famous athletes who’ve recovered from spine surgery and shared an inspiring story of a professional athlete that dealt with an accident involving his spine. Well, professional athletes also have to deal with everyday aches and pains that originate in the spine.

Aaron Judge came on the scene with a bang in 2017 when he amazed New York Yankee’s fans everywhere and was awarded MLB’s Rookie of the Year Award.  Judge has been training during the off-season but had to miss three pre-season games for a “stiff neck”. When asked about it, Judge reported:

“Sometimes you just wake up on the wrong side of the bed.”

But, after some work with a physical trainer, Judge is back and hit a home run at his first at bat. The homer was hit from a pitch by teammate James Paxton who is back in action after having spine surgery (lumbar discectomy) in February to repair a herniated disc. Despite their spine issues, both players are in great condition and prepping for their opening game, scheduled for next week.

While we all don’t have personal trainers and masseuses to help us through a stiff neck, there are resources for the rest of us. Take a look at some of the resources here on our blog:

• Stiff Neck: Causes, Symptoms and Treatments
• Exercises for Neck Pain
• Exercises for Neck Pain Part 2 – Neck Strengthening Exercises

---

References

• https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/29468952/yankees-aaron-judge-returns-action-stiff-neck