Many athletes are getting into the swing of softball season.
The college season officially began last week, and many amateur leagues open soon.
But you don't need to tell many doctors in town. When the number of injuries start to rise, they know the first pitches have been thrown.
Scott Robinson, an emergency room physician at Lawrence Memorial Hospital, has already treated one patient with a dislocated finger.
Whitney Jenkins, who plays for Mid-America Nazarene University, slid into third base on a steal and jammed her finger.
"I stood up and knew something felt funny because it was numb," she says.
Jenkins, who is studying athletic training, knew she wasn't supposed to pop the dislocated finger back into place. That's why she made a trip to LMH.
Robinson says injuries like Jenkins' are common.
"They range from sprained ankles twisting an ankle going over a base to injuries to the face from the ball," he says.
Robinson says he occasionally treats someone struck in the head with a ball or bat.
"That's a little bit more significant of an injury, but those are less common," he says.
College students aren't the only ones making a trip from the ball field to the emergency room. Robinson says amateurs are also at risk for an injury. He calls it the "Weekend Warrior Syndrome."
"There are a lot of adults beyond their college years that are playing these sports," he says. "You may not be in the best physical condition, but you go out and play anyway, and sometimes those injuries are a little bit more prevalent."
That's because joints lose strength with age. Robinson says the Achilles tendon is especially prone to injury for people older than 30.
What can be done to reduce the risk of a cut, scrape, bruise or chipped or fractured bone?
"Warm-ups will significantly help you with just the skeletal injuries," Robinson says. "But they won't prevent an ankle sprain, for example."
He says a chipped or fractured bone typically takes three to six weeks to heal, depending upon the extent of the injury.
But Jenkins is already looking forward to getting back in the lineup.
"Hopefully it'll hurry up and heal, and I'll be all right," she says. "I'm just going to work my way back in."
Robinson says injuries will always be a part of the game.
"As long as they desire to participate in those sports, it's just going to happen."
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