The problem with sports medicine

Sports medicine is based on the trauma based injury model where the pain site is the pain source. Trauma is when an athlete faces an acute injury i.e. a torn ACL when he gets tackled from the side or a dislocated shoulder.

However, when the injury is due to cumulative stress, it is most likely that the pain site is never the pain source. The pain site can even be more than a foot away from the pain source. For example, a pain in the rotator cuff is usually found in the front of the shoulder. Icing the front of the shoulder will not help since the rotator cuff is mostly found on the scapular itself. Another great example would be a strained adductor where the referral pain can be in the abdomen.

Athletes mostly suffer from cumulative stress injuries. As such, going to an orthopedic surgeon will be of little help since most of their expertise is in the trauma based injury model.

If it is the athletes first visit to the orthopedic doctor, he will normally be given pain killers, anagelsics and anti-inflammatories to reduce the pain and therefore provides symptomatic relief. This does not solve the problem as getting rid of symptoms does not solve the root problem. The athlete, upon the reduction of symptoms, will continue to go about doing his usual training i.e. running which may be causing the problem.

When the pain comes back, the athlete will usually be given a jab, i.e. cortisol, at the pain source to try to get rid of the symptoms. This is still symptomatic relieve since we know that the pain source is somewhere else. The athlete, upon the reduction fo the symptoms, will continue in his usual activities.

When the pain pops its ugly head again, the athlete will be advised to go for an operation since the pain is definitely not going away so that he can 'take a look' at what is happening. When a doctor tells you that he wants to 'take a look', it means that he does not know what is happening.

Many athletes have gone throught the ingestion, injection, incision route and have the scares to show. Furthermore, they are none the better. They might even feel worse because of the scar tissues formed and the lengthy post op rehabilitation process.

Therefore, if you are suffering from any pain which is cumulative by nature, it is best to get help from a soft tissue or manual therapist to locate the root of the issue and help you recover.