The Job of the Athletic Trainer

I can hear it now.  After the last four columns (where I wrote about various life lessons, maybe with a sports twist) my wife will have said somewhere along the way “those are all nice, but you need to write about sports and injuries and that sort of thing.”

Of course she’s right.  I guess when you get to a certain age, you want to philosophize a bit—share the lessons you’ve learned in a long life.  I most surely qualify.

I do believe there was meaning in those stories, maybe not so much about dealing with injuries but about life lessons that apply to sports.  I also believe the other side of that coin, that sports teach us life lessons as well.

But back to what I know best:  Dealing with your injuries.  Here’s what I know—to deal most successfully with injuries, you’ve got to know what you’re dealing with.  That’s where the importance of athletic trainers comes in.

When I came here in 1981 and put out my own shingle, I know I wanted to be in the arena of athletic health care.  I wanted to build my practice around it.  Other than the legendary Dr. Bob Haralson, there wasn’t much going on in the way of sports medicine around here.

That has most assuredly changed and the athletes of this area have benefitted from that.  There are athletic trainers and sports physical therapists everywhere around here.  I know that because I work with them.

Dedicated professionals who love kids and love sports.  Caring individuals who sacrifice huge amounts of time to take care of their athletes. 

So, if you don’t know what your injury is, seek professional help.  Don’t “walk it off.”  Don’t “shake it off.”  Don’t “toughen up.”  Get answers.  Get checked out.  You will get better quicker that way.  Athletic trainers take no joy in keeping you from playing your game.  Our job is to get you back out there as quickly as possible.

And we will do it within the framework of making sure that it is safe for you to return to play, that there are no short term or long term ramifications to your return.  We do not compromise on that. 

It used to be that we put ice on an injury for 24 hours and then switched to heat.  We now know better.  There really isn’t a place for heat in sports medicine.

Don’t be afraid of braces.  I’ve heard a thousand times that somebody didn’t want to wear an ankle brace because it made the ankle “weak.”  Huh-uh.  It doesn’t.  It just protects the ankle, maybe gives it a chance to heal.

I tape a lot of ankles but not much else.  A few wrists and fingers.  Tape on a knee or a shoulder is worthless.  Those colorful stripes that you see on shoulders and knees?  Mostly decoration.  Hardly worth the cost or effort.

Common sense also goes a long way in dealing with sports injuries.  If it doesn’t make sense, get it checked out.  If it lingers too long, find out why.

The job of the athletic trainer is to help you get exactly what you need, when you need, and get you back to your sport.