Friday, April 2, 2010

Is toughing out a sports injury a good idea?

Yesterday, the NY Times published an article called Sports Injuries: When to Tough It Out(http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/01/fashion/01best.html). I this article to be interesting because it interviewed a number of physicians who shared their philosophy and most recommended not seeing a family doctor for these types of injuries. It seems they believe their own profession is most likely to take athletes out of their activities and many recommend that you just try to train through it.

Our offices are filled with athletes who tried to just train through it. The fact that medical professionals do not trust medical professionals with sports injuries that are of gradual onset is telling. The question of course is who do/should you trust? In the minds of most athletes, the answer has commonly become chiropractic sports physicians. The International Olympic Committee has a director who is a chiropractor and this year two chiropractors were officially at the games for the american team and the athletes want it that way.

What should you do with an athletic injury: Trust a family doctor with minimal training for this or a chiropractor athletes rely on? I welcome your thoughts.