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News Releases
Avoiding High School Sports Injury
Columbia, Mo. (July 25, 2007) - For seven million high school athletes, a new school year means a new season. But according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), two million of these athletes will not only face an opponent, but also a sports-related injury. And if a sports-related injury involves the knee, years later it could come back to haunt them as knee osteoarthritis. The Arthritis Foundation says that just one knee injury can increase the risk of knee osteoarthritis in adulthood by five times.
Osteoarthritis is a gradual process of the wearing away of cartilage between the bones. In the most severe cases, bones can actually begin to rub against each other. The condition causes pain, swelling, limited movement and stiffness in the joint. Affecting over 21 million people, osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis in the United States.
"The risk of future arthritic changes depends on the injury type and location," says Gregory Worsowicz, M.D., MBA, chair of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the MU School of Medicine, and co-principal investigator for the Missouri Arthritis Rehabilitation Research and Training Center. "Not all injuries lead to predisposing a joint to future damage, but this is important to consider when evaluating injuries and future activity levels."
The CDC has a few ideas to help guard against a sports-related injury:
- Gear Up: Always wear sports safety equipment. It should fit properly, be age appropriate and in good condition.
- Listen to Your Body: Playing with an injury won't make you tougher, but it can do more damage to your body. Coaches should be aware of possible problems to minimize the risk of injury.
- Play by the Rules: Coaches must enforce all the rules of the game and promotes safe play.
- First Aid: All games and practices should have first aid readily available.
- Avoid Excesses: Avoid excessive training and exposure to extreme weather conditions.
- Warm Up: Before you begin any exercise or sports activity, first warm-up. For great warm up exercises visit the Web site for the Missouri Arthritis Rehabilitation Research and Training Center: http://marrtc.org/warmup/
Play it safe, it could keep you healthier and in the game longer!
The Missouri Arthritis Research Rehabilitation and Training Center (MARRTC) was established in 1971 at the University of Missouri-Columbia Arthritis Center. MARRTC is funded by the U.S. Department of Education's National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (H133B031120) and is the only federally funded arthritis rehabilitation research and training center in the country.
As part of the MU Health Communication Research Center (HCRC), MARRTC's mission is to become a national leader in the areas of disability management and communication, improve the quality of life and promote independent living among people who have arthritis and arthritic conditions. MARRTC's core message is "Disability is everyone's issue."
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