Pain and the Sports Enthusiast—How to Get Back in the Game

by Leslie McKerns--McKerns Development

Love the sport, but hate the pain?

For pain and the sports enthusiast, you are not alone. According to the National Institute of Health, in a two year period adults age 25 and over sustained nearly 2.3 million sports and recreational injuries - including 370,000 in recreational sports; 331,000 by exercising; 276,000 by playing basketball; 231,000 by bike riding and another 205,000 by playing baseball/softball. Add the sports of tennis, squash/handball, golf, gymnastics, boating, climbing/extreme sports, football, soccer, boxing, running, weight training, skiing, even polo, and you'll understand the concern.

What are these injuries?

Knee injuries are by far the most common sports injury. Severe knee injuries can be to the meniscus cartilage that absorbs the shock between the thigh (femur) and lower leg bones (tibia and fibula) or to the cartilage that allows bones to smoothly glide. Injuries to the four ligaments that support the knee include the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL), the medial collateral ligament (MCL), and the lateral collateral ligament (LCL).

Herniated discs cause pain, numbness, weakness or tingling in the low back (lumbar region), neck (cervical region), or mid spine (thoracic region). Pain is caused when the inner core of a disk bulges or ruptures and extrudes back into the spinal canal, putting pressure on the underlying nerve root.

Shin splints, often seen in runners, cause pain along the large bone in the front of the leg (tibia), and may radiate pain to either side of the leg and down to the foot and ankle.

Achilles Tendon Injuries are painful and debilitating tears or rupture of the tendon that connects the calf muscle to the back of the heel, and can be caused by a chronic weakening of the tendon (tendonitis).

Shoulder injuries include the rotator cuff, muscles that govern the rotation of the shoulder, commonly occurring in racket sports.

Elbow injuries, sometimes referred to as tennis or golf elbow, can be caused by hyperextension of a joint, entrapment of nerves, inflammation of a tendon, or ligament sprains.

While we commonly think of fractures as sudden damage, stress fractures are caused by continual stress over time, such as with repetitive impact sports such as running, jumping or gymnastics.

What are the symptoms of a sports injury?

Symptoms of a sports injury include tenderness and swelling, inability to move through a range of motion, pain or pain that amplifies with weight bearing, muscle spasms, loss of strength, tender or painful places or joints, instability or inability to move the joint with accompanying swelling, bruising or inflammation.

Here are some ways you can get back in the game following a sports injury.

Get a complete diagnosis. Undiagnosed ailments and untreated inflammation can lead to chronic pain.

Visit a pain specialist. Board Certified Pain Management Anesthesiologists diagnose the causes of pain and through specific injection procedures provide minimally invasive non-narcotic treatment.

Epiduroscopy is the insertion of a fiber optic filament through a needle connected to a television monitor to visualize the inside of the spinal canal, spinal cord and spinal nerves. This procedure provides accurate diagnosis, accomplishing precise injections, cutting of epidural adhesions and scar tissue and the removal of toxins liberated by injured discs.

Injured or painful facet joints can be injected with steroids and patients can be treated with Radiofrequency rhyzotomies. These Radiofrequency procedures numb the facet joints and eliminate the patient's pain for approximately one year.

Injured and herniated discs can be treated with an IDET (Intradiscal Electrothermal Treatment) procedure and a Percutaneous discectomy. A special wire electrode is inserted through a needle into a disc and directed to the affected area of the disc herniation. Once in place, the electrode is heated with Radiofrequency or designed to create an electromagnetic or plasma field. This causes cauterization and vaporization of the disc, proliferation and tightening of the protein matrix of the disc, shrinking of small herniations and disc denervation or numbing. The final effect of this process is the relief of pain and the creation of more support collagen within the disc.

Get back in the game following a sports injury. Board Certified Pain Management physicians diagnose the sources of pain and provide pain relief through minimally invasive techniques.

Want more information about pain management and what to expect in your first pain management visit?

Leslie McKerns, McKerns Development writes for professionals, including about issues in the medical profession. http://www.freewebs.com/mckernsdevelopment/