Tuesday, September 29, 2009

en garde - the Fencing Response

En garde… The fencing position has become a notable response in serious head injuries. Dr. Lifshitz, an assistant professor at UK's Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Center, along with other researchers used YouTube to find this response in athletes. Using the postings on this social media site allowed these researchers to examine the head injuries in many different sports and activities. YouTube often has the same incident of injury, but with various angles. A description of this response may be found in The Medical News. Tim Tebow, quarterback for the University of Florida exhibited this response at the moment of his head injury on Saturday (9/26). ESPN article with video.


Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Correct the mistake!

For the most part, exercise induced injuries are caused by a mistake. Granted, you may have a fastball hit you in the head, have contact with another athlete or have an unintended meeting with the ground. But if you are involved in an exercise or sport and you injure without contact, this injury was caused by a mistake. Now if we want to prevent injuries (which had better be our top priority), we need to learn how to identify the mistake and correct it. If we can not (or do not want to take the time) do this, this injury will reappear again. How many athletes have shin splints (medial tibial stress syndrome) year after year? Why are acl injuries at an epidemic level in female athletes? Is it a coincidence that there are so many hamstring strains in power sports? Questions, Questions… Shin splints can be prevented, acl injuries can be prevented, hamstring strains can be prevented. All it takes is educating the athlete about the need for conditioning and strengthening the body and not just body parts. (Maybe I should say educating the athlete, parent and coach about the need for conditioning and strengthening the body and not just body parts.)