Advanced Healing Power

 

Now as you all know, I am not a Bears fan, Im more of the Green Bay Packer type of girl, but I did find this article to be interesting. Orthopedic surgeons are hoping to have Jay Cutler back in 4 weeks from a THUMB FRACTURE! As stated in the article, it usually takes anywhere from 6-8 weeks. A lot of people thought that he was done for the season, however there is some hope for Bears fans that their quarterback will be ready to go for the playoffs, however I do believe when they meet the Packers in the playoffs, they will not be able to overcome their offensive power :). All joking aside, this feet would be remarkable.

Doctors are going to use a combination of tiny metal screws, the introduction of new bone-building protein and plasma treatments, along with applying ultrasonic waves through to the injured area to help and promote the ideal healing environment. They hope to have him back and ready to go in 4 weeks. Some doctors are stating that years ago this would have been a season-ending injury!

The advancement of the orthopedic world, has allowed for very specialized screws and plates to be developed, in order to allow for optimal positioning and healing of the thumb. It is amazing that these screws are only 1 millimeter wide and are expected to hold the thumb in place. It is going to be interesting to see the development of Cutlers rehabilitation, to see if this is really going to benefit him in the long run and allow him to achieve his goal of not having a season-ending injury. I believe it could work and I do hope it does, because as an Athletic Trainer I am always looking for new and improved ways to get athletes back on the field as soon as possible!

To read more about this story click HERE!

Yoga and Its Benefits for Runners

Yoga promotes muscle pliability, proper body alignment, controlled breathing and mindfulness. All of these qualities can help to improve a runners performance. Muscle pliability and proper body alignment can not only improve their performance, but it can also help their body heal after a strenuous bout of exercise. Promoting proper body alignment helps to reduce the stress the body experiences on a run. Running is very hard on the body, but with proper body mechanics, overuse injuries can be prevented. For example, proper mechanics and increase pliability can help prevent shin splints, which is a very common overuse injury experienced by a runner.

Mindfulness is more the ability to focus your mind on the task at hand. When you are running, this is known as the being in "the zone." When you are in the zone, nothing else matters, nothing else is on your mind, other then your running. Being in the zone helps to promote controlled breathing. If you are focused on running, you are focused on controlling your breathing. Controlled breathing is essential to be a competitive runner. If you are unable to control your breathing, you can end up hindering your performace. This is because oxygen is essential to promote ATP formation in order to fuel the body's energy systems.

Participating in yoga even if it is only 10 to 15 mins a day, can help the athlete gain these benefits to help improve their performance. Runners are always looking to gain that competitive edge, and yoga just might be what could help them find that edge.

Original Article click here!

New Development in Anti-Inflammatory Drugs

This finding could change how doctors may be able to change the way we all take care of the inflammatory response. So far doctors are prescribing a steroid to treat inflammation. However, treating inflammation with steroids causes harmful side effect on individuals ranging from muscle weakness, immune weakness and high blood sugar. Having high blood pressure as an athlete is a negative response of the body. Meaning if there is high amount of sugar in the blood, insulin will be released, causing the blood pressure to drop. This sudden drop in blood sugar can lead to the athlete crashing. An interesting topic the article brought about is that steroids are often prescribed to cancer patients to help with their treatment. They are being subjected to the high occurrence of the side effects of the steroids, but if researchers are able to develop this new anti-inflammatory drug, hopefully it will not only help to fight cancer, but also will help to prevent those patients from being subjected to difficult side effects. In accordance with athletes and athletic trainers it is very important to be familiar with new and improved ways of treating the same issues always seen in the world of athletics. The world of the athletic trainer is always changing and is a big reason as to why athletic trainers need to continue their education.

Click here to view whole article

What?? A Mouthpiece That Can Record Impact

To Read About This Cool Mouthpiece!


Stanford University is recording the level of impact a player experiences, whenever they come into contact with another player. The sports which have agreed to participate in this study are not only football, but also women's field hockey and lacrosse.

This is remarkable! There have been studies with microchips in helmets to help record data, but not mouthpieces. Helmets were difficult to use because they would shift during play, but mouthpieces stay pretty stable in the athlete's mouth. It is going to be very interesting to see the data collected in the 2011-2012 season and getting to see the recorded data in 2012. The researchers hope that the data will help determine the amount force generated upon impact and how it affects the injury experiences by the athlete. They hope that the recorded data from the mouthpiece will help to predict what kind of injury has occurred at the brain. This is because athletic trainers and physicians are unable to see the brain. However hooking the mouthpiece up to a computer, may be able to help athletic trainer and physician make a more concrete decision about what the next step should be to help to athlete to recover from the traumatic brain injury.

I believe that if this mouthpiece works the way that the researchers intend it to work, it will help change the face of concussion diagnosis and treatment. There will be no more, maybe they have a concussion, maybe they don't. We as athletic trainers always do our best to er on the side of caution when dealing with a head trauma, but with the ability to have a mouthpiece to help solidify our decision on the field, it could really help keep the athlete safe. Stanford is the only school to take part in this study, I do believe if this study shows positive results, that it would be beneficial for more schools and teams to participate in order to collect as much data as possible in order to determine more precise information for diagnostics. It'll be interesting to see where this research goes next!

In The News: Dietary Supplements and the NCAA

Dietary Supplements may NOT be telling the whole TRUTH

This article states the importance of athletes AWARENESS of what supplements they are consuming! Many products that are out on the shelves for athletes to buy that are being showcased to give athletes that competitive edge, are products that may or may not contain substances that are banned by the NCAA. These supplement can and will force the athlete to be PULLED FROM THEIR SPORT for failing a drug test! Do not get me wrong, athletes are aware of illegal products, they are being constantly told by coaches, athletic trainers, athletic directors and other individuals in administration which products not to consume, but what happens is that not EVERYTHING IS LISTED ON THE NUTRITION LABEL and this label can be misleading. Trace amounts of illegal substances could be in the product which your athlete is consuming and can lead to them testing positive on drug tests. It is important that the athletes know and realize that these companies are more interested in making money, then making sure that their product is free of any trace elements of an ergogenic substance. Another important fact is that pretty much anything and everything that you can digest as an athlete to give you that competitive edge you are looking for is most likely banned by the NCAA. They are really cracking down on the use of ergogenic substance use. This is why it is important that an athlete should start to focus their energy on having a well planned out work out schedule on top of a great nutrition plan. These two factors are what an athlete needs in order to become bigger, stronger and faster then their counterpart. Yes, it may take longer, but it is that determination and hard work that got you to where you are now as a collegiate athlete and if you continue on with that mantra it will make you into the athlete you strive to be.

Head Injuries on the Football Field

Tim Larsen for The New York TimesRunning backs and quarterbacks suffer the hardest and most severe blows to the head, researchers have found

The reason as to why I believe this article is important to Division three Athletic Trainers, Athletes and Coaches is because it seems to be the common belief that the only issue with football is that one hit that gives you a concussion. However it is important that Athletic Trainers, Athletes and Coaches realize that the multiple impact forces that the athletes are experiencing on a day to day basis are having a huge impact on the athletes overall health. The forces can and are making small differences in the athletes neural pathways within the brain. This research has opened the doors to the development of different helmet types, designed around the athletes position. This in turn could help decrease the impact force experienced by the brain. 

It is interesting to me because both linemen and linebackers are stated to be the athletes that sustain the greatest amounts of  hits during the season, however when we are watching football on Sundays as viewers we tend to only see concussions within the position of either the quarterback or running backs. This is because they are the positions which research has found to sustain the hardest hits during the season. These hard hits lead the athletes to experience the symptoms associated with a concussion. The interesting point though, as the article states, is that the linemen and the linebackers are the ones who sustain the most hits throughout the season. Just because the hits aren't hard enough to necessarily cause a concussion, they are still hard enough to cause damage that is affecting these players later on in life.

As an Athletic Training student, I believe that it is important that I know how impact forces can affect an athlete. Just because they don't have a concussion, does not mean that there in not some sort of alteration occurring within the athletes neurological system. It is very important that this research continues in order to continue the development of different helmet styles based on the positions. This will help in the prevention of life long affects of the impact forces.

If you would like to view the original article from the New York Times, click here.

Welcome

Owch, this hurts...can you please take a look at it??

The most common phrase that I have heard ever since anyone and everyone has learned about how I am studying the wonderful profession known as Athletic Training. This blog is an informational tool for those athletes, coaches, athletic trainers, athletic directors or even family and friends, who want to learn more about the in's and out's of the body. So much information is provided out on the world wide web that hopefully my blog, which is directed mostly to Division Three athletes, will allow for quick access to information pertaining to the individual athlete.

If you would like to learn more about me and why I am so interested in athletic training, you can read my post, The World According To Cara.

Please feel free if you have any questions for me to answer, you can comment in the box below and I will do my best to answer them as quickly as possible. Thanks! Stay tuned for more posts to come throughout the year!