 |
|
Intensive training of young tennis players causes spinal damage
July 19, 2007The intensive training given to young elite tennis players damages their spines, shows research published ahead of print in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of young elite tennis players with no symptoms of pain showed a variety of spinal abnormalities in the lower back, some of which were irreparable.
The scans picked up problems in 28 of the 33 players scanned. All the players were aged between 16 and 23 and were attending a national tennis centre.
The abnormalities included spinal disc degeneration, herniated discs, complete fractures, and stress fractures known as pars lesions. Three of the 10 pars lesions in nine players were complete fractures.
Twenty three players had early signs of diseased facet joint (arthropathy), causing moderate permanent degeneration in nine of them. Facet joints help the spine bend backwards.
At 70%, the rate of facet joint arthropathy was four to five times higher than that of the general population.
Twenty players had signs of skin hardening, and 24 had bone overgrowth, while cysts in the lubricating (synovial) joint fluid were found in 10 players.
The spinal discs of 13 players were drying out due to insufficient lubrication and were bulging in another 13.
The authors point out that the chances of success as a professional player on the circuit are linked to junior career performance, and young athletes spend increasing amounts of time playing and training.
Intensive training during the growth spurt years is linked to injury and musculoskeletal problems, they add. Injuries to the trunk are the third most common type after arm and leg injuries among tennis players.
Tennis requires considerably more repetitive and rapid rotation and stretching of the lower spine than other sports, say the authors.
And the increased speed and types of strokes used in modern tennis all boost wear and tear on the lower back.
Training techniques should be modified to minimise the risk of progressive musculoskeletal damage, conclude the authors.
BMJ Specialty Journals
The abnormalities included spinal disc degeneration, herniated discs, complete fractures, and stress fractures known as pars lesions. Three of the 10 pars lesions in nine players were complete fractures.
Twenty three players had early signs of diseased facet joint (arthropathy), causing moderate permanent degeneration in nine of them. Facet joints help the spine bend backwards.
At 70%, the rate of facet joint arthropathy was four to five times higher than that of the general population.
Twenty players had signs of skin hardening, and 24 had bone overgrowth, while cysts in the lubricating (synovial) joint fluid were found in 10 players.
The spinal discs of 13 players were drying out due to insufficient lubrication and were bulging in another 13.
The authors point out that the chances of success as a professional player on the circuit are linked to junior career performance, and young athletes spend increasing amounts of time playing and training.
Intensive training during the growth spurt years is linked to injury and musculoskeletal problems, they add. Injuries to the trunk are the third most common type after arm and leg injuries among tennis players.
Tennis requires considerably more repetitive and rapid rotation and stretching of the lower spine than other sports, say the authors.
And the increased speed and types of strokes used in modern tennis all boost wear and tear on the lower back.
Training techniques should be modified to minimise the risk of progressive musculoskeletal damage, conclude the authors.
BMJ Specialty Journals
Spinal Damage Current Events and Spinal Damage News RSSResearchers use nanoparticles to deliver treatment for brain, spinal cord injuries
Purdue University researchers have developed a method of using nanoparticles to deliver treatments to injured brain and spinal cord cells.
UCLA study helps ER physicians identify previously undetectable spinal injuries
A new national study indicates that patients with a cervical spinal injury (CSI) may harbor additional spinal damage not visible on regular x-rays.
Sense of pain learned by touching
The fact that a newborn baby can experience pain has previously been taken as evidence that pain reflexes are inborn, not learned. This is because the baby in the womb has been protected from everything that could cause pain and should therefore not have been able to learn what pain is. But according to a team of scientists at Lund University, Sweden, headed by Professor Jens Schouenborg, the tactile feeling of fetal movements in the womb is sufficient to initiate a process of learning in the undeveloped pain system. "The system for tactile feeling needs only tiny stimuli: the skin reacts to extremely light pressure and contact. We have found that the tactile feeling is used to training the
Nerve prosthesis developed in Ume'å
The first clinical study ever with a new type of nerve prosthesis has been launched at Northern Sweden University Hospital. It is being carried out by a research team from Ume'å University under the leadership of Professors Jan-Olof Kellerth and Mikael Wiberg. The team, at the Department of Integrative Medical Biology and the Department of Surgery and Perioperative Sciences, were recently granted SEK 1 million from the Kempe Foundations to purchase advanced neuro-anatomical microscopes and image-analysis equipment for use in the project. The goal is to develop clinically applicable nerve prostheses that can help restore the capacity to feel with and to move severed fingers that have be
LAUGHING GAS - A FASHIONABLE RECREATIONAL DRUG? (p 1347)
Issue 19 April 2003 Embargoed 0001 h (London time) 18 April 2003 New Zealand authors of a research letter in this week's issue of THE LANCET report how laughing gas may be a popular recreational drug among young people. This could have implications for public health, as a case report in THE LANCET last year highlighted how excessive use of nitrous oxide ('laughing gas') caused spinal degeneration in a frequent user of the drug. In a questionnaire-based study, Richard Frith from Auckland Hospital, New Zealand, and colleagues surveyed 1782 students in their first year at the University of Auckland. Just under 60% of students who responded were aware of the use of nitrous oxide for recreation
Two thirds of sports doctors have inadequate first aid skills
Two thirds of sports doctors are incapable of demonstrating proficiency in first aid skills under examination, shows research in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. The research, from the University of Bath, focused on the performance of candidates seeking to obtain a diploma in sports and exercise medicine. The diploma includes proficiency at basic life support on a dummy and assessment and management of a seriously injured patient with potential spinal damage, using volunteer "casualties." It also includes dealing with a cardiac arrest and the insertion of breathing tubes. The diploma complies with standards set by international accredited bodies. Almost two thirds of the doc
More Spinal Damage Current Events and Spinal Damage News Articles
| Mechanisms of Ischemic Damage of the Spinal Cord by Mikulas and Marsala, Jozef Chavko | |
 | Re-Engineering of the Damaged Brain and Spinal Cord: Evidence-Based Neurorehabilitation (Acta Neurochirurgica Supplementum) by G.A. Brunelli Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) can lead to loss of skills and to mental cognitive behavioural deficits. Paraplegia after Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) means a life-long sentence of paralysis, sensory loss, dependence and in both, TBI and SCI, waiting for a miracle therapy. Recent advances in functional neurosurgery, neuroprosthesis, robotic devices and cell transplantation have opened up a new era. New... |
 | Mechanisms of Secondary Brain Damage from Trauma and Ischemia: Recent Advances of Our Understanding (Acta Neurochirurgica Supplementum) Top level clinical and laboratory scientists present their most recent clinical and experimental findings and concepts. The well balanced contributions illustrate the enormous significance of the dialogue between both laboratory and clinic, ultimately for the benefit of the patients, and contribute to a better understanding of secondary brain damage from trauma and ischemia as basis to develop... |
 | Cost Savings and Other Benefits from Transferring Navy Fast Combat Support Ships to the Naval Fleet Auxiliary Force This is a NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL MONTEREY CA report procured by the Pentagon and made available for public release. It has been reproduced in the best form available to the Pentagon. It is not spiral-bound, but rather assembled with Velobinding in a soft, white linen cover. The Storming Media report number is A073333. The abstract provided by the Pentagon follows: The U.S. Navy's Fast Combat... |
| Naval Aviation Aging Wiring: Prognostic and Diagnostic Solutions This is a NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL MONTEREY CA report procured by the Pentagon and made available for public release. It has been reproduced in the best form available to the Pentagon. It is not spiral-bound, but rather assembled with Velobinding in a soft, white linen cover. The Storming Media report number is A353783. The abstract provided by the Pentagon follows: The Navy and Marine Corps... |
| Pharmacological Approaches to the Treatment of Brain and Spinal Cord Injury by Donald G. Stein, Bernhard A. Sabel | |
| Outlook for neuroprotectants: Next-generation therapies for stroke, traumatic brain injury, and spinal cord injury (DR reports) by Hermann A. M Mucke | |
| Neurology and Trauma by Randolph W. Evans This comprehensive book discusses the most common neurologic disorders resulting from trauma to the head, neck, back, and peripheral nervous system as well as environmental trauma and post-traumatic pain syndromes. An easily accessible sourcebook for a busy practice, this text features contributions from leading authorities in the... |
| © 2008 BrightSurf.com |