By Dr. Steven Warfield
Have you read the sports page
lately? If you have you will have noticed
that a lot of attention has been given to concussions and other sports injuries
in the NFL. In fact, a recent lawsuit
brought against the NFL by a number of former players received $765 million in
damages for job-related injuries that resulted from the excessive amount of
concussions that players in the league were subjected to during the course of
their careers. As a result, the league
has changed the rules to try to mitigate these kinds of injuries. Helmet to helmet hits are now penalized and
players who take a blow to the head are often sidelined, or even taken to the
locker room to be evaluated for a concussion.
Some pundits have even called for sensors to be installed in helmets
that could document the punishment that is inflicted upon players. While some fans claim that the changes that
have been handed down are an impediment to the game, many more, including a
number of former players would agree that these safeguards are warranted, since
the damage that was done to some retired NFL players were life changing.
While the controversy
continues to rage over how and why to handle these kinds of high profile sports
injuries, what the majority of the public has failed to realize is the fact
that sports injuries aren’t only incurred by professional athletes. Everyone from weekend warriors to retirees
and even school children are susceptible to injuries resulting from sports
activities. As far as the statistics go
the relevance and costs associated with sports injuries is on the increase.
Bad News for Boomers
A recent article onactive.com reported that “While
many baby boomers people between the ages of 37 and 55 are exercising more,
many end up in hospital emergency rooms suffering from sports related injuries,
according to Yale orthopedic surgeon, Robert A. Stanton, M.D., who wants to
raise awareness about this growing problem and offer preventative strategies. Statistics show
that most sports-related injuries affecting this age group come from bicycling,
running, skiing and in-line skating. Although the injuries were relatively
minor, Stanton said the bruises and sprains added up to nearly 90,000 injuries
in one year a 42 percent increase in the past decade.”’
While these statistics might
come as a surprise to some adults, they certainly don’t to ER doctors who have
to deal with the carnage first hand.
Worse still is the fact that so many of the injuries that are dealt with
in ERs across the country are preventable.
Said Doctor Stanton, clinical instructor of orthopedics at Yale School of
Medicine. "By following preventative
steps, such as warming up, wearing bike helmets and knee pads, and increasing
the rate of activity by only 10 percent per week, baby boomers will have fewer
injuries."
Of course, sports injuries
are not only relegated to baby boomers.
In fact, the age group with the highest rates of hospitalization and
death due to traumatic brain injury are not pro athletes but senior
citizens. Unlike past generations,
senior citizens today are more active and mobile than those that came before
them. With the advent of motor vehicles,
the incidence of severe trauma many times occur with the start of an
engine. And I don’t just mean the
four-wheel kind.
A recent report by AARP cited
an explosion in the number of older people riding motorcycles. “It’s
not uncommon for us to see a 65-year-old guy and his 58-year-old wife ricing on
the back of a Harley,” reported Dr John Morris, chief of trauma at
Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Sports Injuries are Not Kid Stuff
While the elderly are seeing
an explosion in sports injuries, the same holds true at the opposite end of the
spectrum. USA Today reported that 1.45
million kids per year have serious sports injuries. These include everything from strains and
contusions, to fractures and concussions.
These injuries result in costs of nearly a billion dollars per year and
involve twenty percent of kids who are taken to the emergency room.
As you might guess, a number
of these injuries are the result of participation in organized sports.”Using data
from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's National Electronic Injury
Surveillance System, the report focused on pediatric sports injuries related to
14 common sports activities, including football, cheerleading, soccer and
basketball. More than 46.5 million children played team sports in 2011, says
the report. It finds that in 2012, 12%
of all ER visits (163,670) involved a concussion, the equivalent of one every
three minutes. Nearly half (47%) were in kids ages 12 to 15.”
While these
statistics sound alarming, the truth of the matter is that many of these
injuries are preventable. By doing
things like stretching before exercising or participating in sports, by using
protection such as pads and helmets when biking or skateboarding and by taking
yourself out of the game and seeking treatment when you or someone you know
overdoes it on the playing field, we can all reduce the incidence and severity
of sports injuries. The real cost of
sports injuries does not only come from the time and money that it costs the
public to recover from an injury. It
also costs in terms of time missed from work.
The ugly truth about sports injuries is that they don’t have to sideline
your life if you use common sense.
If you are
feeling less than picture perfect after your next golf game, tennis match or
other athletic event, consult your local chiropractor. They are experts in not only mitigating pain and
helping patients recover from injury.
They can also offer a wealth of knowledge when it comes to everything
from stretching exercises to nutrition.
Dr.’s Steven Warfield and
Dave Edenfield offer the most advanced treatments for back pain, sciatica,
neck pain, whiplash and headaches. They also treat auto accident victims
with state-of-the-art technologies. For more information visit http://endyourpain.org or http://chiropractor-jacksonville-fl.com
