Athletic Injuries and Recovery Times. Throughout sports the new forms of technology are making rapid changes to keep up

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1 Carson 1 Will Turner Carson Ms. Dasher British Literature and Composition 15 November 2012 Athletic Injuries and Recovery Times Throughout sports the new forms of technology are making rapid changes to keep up with the athletes. The rough conditions of many sports can cause injuries and put strain on the body, which then rely on sports medicine to reduce recovery time. The complexity and intensity of sports today have made it common for injuries to occur frequently. The demand for quick treatment has caused changes in surgical methods and physical therapy, allowing athletes to get back to their professions and hobbies earlier than before. Every athlete knows the possibilities of injuries because of the conditions they put their body in, causing doctors and therapist to engineer and create new methods that will make the athletes stronger and able to return quicker. Athletes have also begun to better educate themselves on how to take care of their bodies and prevent unnecessary injuries from occurring. With the growing awareness of previously overlooked injuries, many sports are considered dangerous and have created disapproval from doctors because of the severity of the injuries suffered. Because of these heightened chances for injury, many athletes are choosing lower impact sports and therapists are continually working to perfect recovery for athletes who do incur injuries. Today s technology has allowed scientific researchers to study and analyze the effects of different sports on the human body. And, as researchers note, In the United States today, almost every athlete has suffered or is suffering from a sports related injury (Li & Richard). High impact sports such as football, rugby, lacrosse, soccer, and even sports like baseball that put

2 Carson 2 stress on specific areas of the body are found to cause definite temporary and many times permanent damage to the body. These injuries often occur as early as high school, causing irreversible damage to their still developing bodies. Football, soccer, and basketball all hold the highest number of ACL injuries for high school students because their bodies are still growing, making their ACL vulnerable. Another leading injury causing major concern to doctors is concussions. They have become a leading injury for athletes in high impact sports, and recently sports organizations and officials have decided to make changes and created regulations to prevent concussions. The NFL has begun to fine players that continuously perform head on head collisions, causing the risk of concussions to increase for themselves and others. Also, the NCAA has begun to make players sit out a play when their helmet comes off. This issue has gotten recent attention because of the research scientist and doctors have done showing the serious, lasting side effects including memory loss and migraines from the injuries in the brain. Although the high impact sports are the primary concern, other sports have also gotten attention for the lasting effects they can have on the body. For instance, while baseball is a low impact sport, it still can have permanent effects on the body. The over use and repetitive motion of the arm when throwing the ball causes two common surgeries in players: Tommy John s and rotator cuff. And, although new advancements allow these surgeries to occur with minimal recovery time, it still has lasting effects. The Ulnar Collateral ligament reconstruction is a medical surgery for reconstructing the elbow and lower arm that is meant to get athletes back to where they were performing, if not better. According to Doctor Gregory N. Drake, approximately 94 percent of the patients who have a total shoulder arthroplasty or joint replacement were able to return to sports, and 85 percent were able to return to the type-specific sport there were involved in before the surgery (Preidt Shoulder Surgery ).

3 Carson 3 Another example can be taken from this year s post season baseball game where Derek Jeter, the Yankee s short stop, broke his left ankle. Doctors say his recovery time is expected to only be four to five months due to new surgical tactics that reinforce the bone, causing it to grow back strong; therefore decreasing the chance of another injury ( Derek Jeter ). Research continues to create advancements in the medical field to ensure athletes are out the minimum amount of time when they are injured. Some of these advancements include cartilage supplements and refined therapeutic techniques. Cartilage supplements inject gel to replace and mend torn cartilage for a quick repair. This type of development is to build the cartilage producing cells so the old will be formed stronger (Preidt Scientists Developing ). When more than a quick fix is needed, therapists are able to implement new techniques that reduce healing time. Many people in the medical field are also implementing alternative forms for healing such as acupuncture and laser therapy. Acupuncture promotes helps to accelerate an athlete s recovery by targeting the inflammation of an injury (Li & Richard). Another method used is non-thermal lasers. These help rehabilitate the ligaments and tendons by reducing pain and strengthening (Boudreaux). A pulse contractor device is also used to bring blood to the source of injury, generating blood throughout. Therapeutic exercises are given incrementally as the injury improves in order to strengthen the injured area and rehabilitate the athlete back to a competitive level. Along with these three methods, therapists may also use basic hot and cold therapies to stimulate muscles and cut down on recovery time. Although healing advancements have been made, many doctors believe that there are ways to prevent the need for medical attention such as: changing pre-and post-game routines, switching sports, or discontinuing playing altogether. Sports medicine specialists say that a pre-

4 Carson 4 and post-routine are a necessity to get the body ready for the stress that will be put upon it. A good start in an athlete pre-game is loosening the muscles with a massage, helping to prepare the body with a simulating exercise: a pre-event massage is most beneficial two hours before an event up until the event begins, with the duration of the massage being 10 to 15 minutes (Chaffee 99). Other beneficial routines suggested include: stretching, proper nutritional diet, and establishing a regular sleep routine. Although these are suggested ways to help prevent injuries, people in the medical field would suggest athletes avoid high impact sports altogether in favor of sports that do not cause as much immediate harm to the body such as golf, tennis, and swimming. Researchers at the Medical College of Georgia reviewed the cases of more than 2500 patients under age 19 seen by neurosurgeons between 1996 and They identified 64 sports related injuries, including 15 golf-related injuries (Preidt Injuries Rising ). This supports doctors push for athletes to pursue sports that have a lower risk of trauma by illustrating the small amount of injuries athletes playing a sport as golf incur. While there are many techniques considered by athletes when developing a routine to prevent injuries, oftentimes having the proper diet for injury prevention gets overlooked. All athletes know to stay properly hydrated; however, athletes who are concerned about their weight such as wrestlers and ballerinas remove certain fatty foods from their diet, not allowing their body to get the proper nutrients, reducing bone mass. It is suggested by medical professionals that all universities and professional teams have a registered dietitian on staff to assist athletes in assessing food regiments for each player s specific dietary needs. A studied showed 28.6% of athletic trainers had inadequate knowledge of nutrition and coaches and athletes had an even lower average of nutritional awareness (Sibilia 209). These sorts of discoveries led the

5 Carson 5 government to take a more proactive role in ensuring athletes are not only better educated, but also better protected. It has recently become a requirement supported by the government for studies to be conducted for each sport regarding the risk and prevention methods for injury. The purpose of these studies is to make athletes and their families more aware of the possible consequences playing sports may have. Some of these studies brought to light the amount of unnoticed concussions in players that had previously been overlooked but still caused future effects. In addition to uncovering medical problems that had been undetected, many sports have begun to enforce the use of injury preventing equipment such as mouth guards, redesigned helmets to better protect the head from trauma, and specialized padding that helps absorb impact (Finch). Although this has not deterred most athletes from playing their sport of choice, it is looked at as a responsibility of sports organization to keep athletes informed and safe. In supporting these organizations, doctors are also encouraging parents have children that are not fully developed avoid high impact sports because of the increased risk of encountering an injury that could cause long term effects and possible defects in bone growth. Sports have developed and become a part of society causing more and more people to pursue sports. With a larger number of athletes in sports today, it has caused an increase in injuries throughout recent years. Growing studies from sports medicine analysis give a better understanding for athletes, causing changes in equipment and the playing of the sports. Although studies and advancements in technology have changed the way athletes are treated when injured, there is still a push to provide them with a safer playing environment. Sports organizations and officials are producing fines and penalties to cut down and increase the safety for the players while the government has also seen a need to get involved. Because of all of these new medical

6 Carson 6 discoveries allowing doctors to examine the later effects of sports related injuries, it has become impossible to ignore the risks athletes are taking.

7 Carson 7 Works Cited Boudreaux, J. D. Lasers in Athletic Training. N.p.: McNeese State University, n.d. Lasers in Athletic Training. Chaffee, Lee. "Strokes And Stretches For Athletes." Massage Magazine 134 (2007): Consumer Health Complete. Web. 26 Oct "Derek Jeter Has Surgery on Broken Left Ankle." Yahoo! Sports. The Associated Press, 20 Oct Web. 24 Oct < mlb.html>. Finch, Caroline F., Shahid Ullah, and Andrew S. Mcintosh. "Combining Epidemiology And Biomechanics In Sports Injury Prevention Research: A New Approach For Selecting Suitable Controls." Sports Medicine 41.1 (2011): Academic Search Complete. Web. 30 Oct Li, Dongcheng, and Mark D. Ricard. "Sport Injuries & Acupuncture." Oriental Medicine Journal 19.5 (2011): Consumer Health Complete. Web. 22 Oct Mike Sibilia, Et Al. "Sports Nutrition Knowledge Among Collegiate Athletes, Coaches, Athletic Trainers, And Strength And Conditioning Specialists." Journal Of Athletic Training 47.2 (2012): Academic Search Complete. Web. 30 Oct Preidt, Robert. "Injuries Rising as More Kids Take Up Golf." HealthDay Consumer News Service 11 Apr. 2005: Consumer Health Complete. Web. 22 Oct Preidt, Robert. "Scientists Developing Injectable Gel For Torn Cartilage." HealthDay Consumer News Service 16 Dec. 2004: Consumer Health Complete. Web. 22 Oct Preidt, Robert. "Shoulder Surgery Helps Athletes Get Back in the Game." HealthDay Consumer News Service 10 July 2009: Consumer Health Complete. Web. 23 Oct

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