Sparkles
Jaws
- Joined
- May 21, 2008
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Pain is the bodies way of saying "slow that **** down bro, you hurt", so I'm surprised that player welfare hasn't been a bigger topic in this. You still hear coaches, commentators and players talk about getting multiple needles a game in reverent tones.As in a pain-killing injections? Cortisone injections during games are prohibited by WADA. It is allowed during recovery but approval is required.
Any needles players are having these days during the games I assume are local anaesthetic (e.g. numb the area and stitch it up), or some other family of drugs.
As for pain-killers in general, I think the distinction is that while pain killers have the potential to improve an athlete's performance on the day, over time the repeated use of pain killing meds have a detrimental impact on muscle tissue. I.e. You can't gain a physical advantage that you wouldn't have otherwise had over someone else by using Voltaren for 3 months in the off-season, even though by reducing pain/inflammation it will likely help you maintain your current levels of strength/activity.
It's a grey area for sure though.
I believe it can lead to worse injury (feels pretty logical doesn't it?) but i'd be interested to hear from anyone who knows something of this.
Is it safe to use local anaesthetic painkilling injections in professional football? - PubMed
The use of local anaesthetic painkilling injections in professional football can counter the performance-reducing impact of injury and lower the rate of players missing matches through injury. In the majority of cases, these injections are probably safe, although scientific evidence in this area...
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov