An article For Effective Antibacterial Protection Against MRSA New Study Recommends Medicated Soap, talked about a study in the Journal of Athletic Training that has found soaps medicated with chlorhexidine gluconate might be able to stop the spread of this dangerous disease. These soaps have been used in athletic training rooms, but this study really solidifies the fact that soaps with a concentration of 4% CHG works more effectively at slowing the spread of MRSA comprated to non-medicated soaps. Twenty healthy people were tested using the medicated soap and the non-medicated soap and exposed to MRSA on the forearm, 2 or 4 hours post wash. The CHG soap provided more protection over a longer period of time than the non-medicated soap. This study also mentions that along with using medicated soap, there must be a proper diagnosis and treatment of MRSA in order for the best prognosis for the athlete.
This is especially important for athletic trainers involved in contact sports for athletes. It is important for sports like wrestling to have access to medicated soap so that the spread of MRSA can be prevented. MRSA is very dangerous and anything that can be done to prevent a person from going through dealing with the disease, is something thats a priority.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Sunday, November 20, 2011
App for a Concussion
I saw something very interesting this past week. My ACI at Bridgewater recently got an iPad and he pulled us aside before the football game on Saturday. He pulled out the iPad and told us to use this application he recently purchased to diagnose a concussion. It was very interesting and took you step by step through questions about symtoms as well as cognitive questions to diagnose a concussion. At the end of the session, it is logged with the date and time.
I happen to type in iPad app and caught an article titled Cleveland Clinic Hopes New iPad App Helps Diagnose Concussions that spoke about a new app called Cleveland Clinic Concussion Assessment System. This pulls together all of the tests used to test for a concussion including memory, balance, and overall cognitive function. The app is supposed to not only help athletic trainer's diagnose concussions, but be a tool such as the imPact test is for pre-concussion comparison. When I researched more about this new appm which is still in testing, I found that these apps utilize the motion detecters (unsure what they are called) to measure balance as well in the athlete. It will be strapped on and can conduct a test on the quality of the athlete's balance.
This is a great application that will help many athletic trainer's disgnose concussions and keep athletes safe. This gives specific questions and directions that can help new and experienced athletic trainers conduct a thourough exam of an athlete.
At the same time, this app must be used as a tool for concussions. The important thing to remember is that the athletic trainermust be able to use their own observations and knowledge as well as the application. The player might not be telling the truth and it is important not just to rely on the answers the athlete gives an athletic trainer.
What do you think?
Cleveland Clinic
I happen to type in iPad app and caught an article titled Cleveland Clinic Hopes New iPad App Helps Diagnose Concussions that spoke about a new app called Cleveland Clinic Concussion Assessment System. This pulls together all of the tests used to test for a concussion including memory, balance, and overall cognitive function. The app is supposed to not only help athletic trainer's diagnose concussions, but be a tool such as the imPact test is for pre-concussion comparison. When I researched more about this new appm which is still in testing, I found that these apps utilize the motion detecters (unsure what they are called) to measure balance as well in the athlete. It will be strapped on and can conduct a test on the quality of the athlete's balance.
This is a great application that will help many athletic trainer's disgnose concussions and keep athletes safe. This gives specific questions and directions that can help new and experienced athletic trainers conduct a thourough exam of an athlete.
At the same time, this app must be used as a tool for concussions. The important thing to remember is that the athletic trainermust be able to use their own observations and knowledge as well as the application. The player might not be telling the truth and it is important not just to rely on the answers the athlete gives an athletic trainer.
What do you think?
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Sunday, November 6, 2011
Athletic Trainer Should Talk About Supplements
In the article from American Academy of Orthopedics there is an interesting article that refers to talking to athletes about supplements called Looking for an edge: Steroids, supplements, and “vitamins”. Although this article mainly refers to the team physician, I thought it would be important to also talk about how the athletic trainer should be knowledgeable as well.
The article talks about a team physician basically told by the coach to administer steriods to the players so that they would win. The important point that this article drives home is that the coach is not the person who should be telling you what to do to to the athletes. Our responsbility as athletic trainers is to do what is good for the athletes. If a coach tells us to recommend a harmful substance to the athlete to improve performance, it is not something that we have to do. In fact, it is something can most likely get us in alot of trouble.
Our job as athletic trainers in working with nutritionists and team physicians is to educate the athletes of what is harmful and what is helpful. It is important to make them realize that anything that can cause a huge change in strength or speed quickly will also have some serious side effects.
It is important to educate athletes on reading labels and looking behind the advertisements to see how a product does affect a person. Just because an athlete hears that it works does not make it true either. We must educate them to be smart in decisions regarding the body. It is important to be educated ourselves as athletic trainers and stay informed about new trends with our athletes.
What would you do if a coach was endorsing potentially harmful supplements?
The article talks about a team physician basically told by the coach to administer steriods to the players so that they would win. The important point that this article drives home is that the coach is not the person who should be telling you what to do to to the athletes. Our responsbility as athletic trainers is to do what is good for the athletes. If a coach tells us to recommend a harmful substance to the athlete to improve performance, it is not something that we have to do. In fact, it is something can most likely get us in alot of trouble.
Our job as athletic trainers in working with nutritionists and team physicians is to educate the athletes of what is harmful and what is helpful. It is important to make them realize that anything that can cause a huge change in strength or speed quickly will also have some serious side effects.
It is important to educate athletes on reading labels and looking behind the advertisements to see how a product does affect a person. Just because an athlete hears that it works does not make it true either. We must educate them to be smart in decisions regarding the body. It is important to be educated ourselves as athletic trainers and stay informed about new trends with our athletes.
What would you do if a coach was endorsing potentially harmful supplements?
http://www.dawnmwilliams.com/Steroids.html
Sunday, October 23, 2011
ACL in... children?
It is not something we think about for children, but ACL injuries are becoming more and more common in a younger set of athletes. According to Knee Injuries Increasing Among Young Athletes, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia has seen a 400% increase in knee injuries with ACL and meniscal injuries each rising rapidly. The reason that I bring up this issue is that although many of us may not have thought about working with a younger set of athletes, we have to realize that they are prone to the same injuries as the older athletes are. There is still a risk for an ACL injury and we must keep that in the back of our mind as we evaluate injuries.
The reason that I think that this is becoming such as trend is the lean towards the "one sport athlete." There is a frame of mind that states that an athlete will not be able to get to their true potential if they do not focus on one sport. This doesn't mean that when they are off-season they get a break, sports are year round and have training programs that won't give children a moments rest. When I was in 8th, I was playing field hockey for my high school every weekday and playing for an indoor softball league both Saturday and Sunday.
This increase can be attributed to the intense practices that children participate in. Last week I was passing some football fields and I saw 6 and 7 year olds running sprints under the lights. If you are on a good team that is participating at a high level, practices can be very intense and you are expected to go full out in both practice and in games.
Lastly, this increase can be because athletes are on more than one team in order to maximize their chances at college, or making an elite team. When I was in 9th grade I was playing on 3 different softball teams to try to find my place. This means, more practices and more chances to get hurt.
The real question is do we really understand the risk that all these practices and games gives to children?
The reason that I think that this is becoming such as trend is the lean towards the "one sport athlete." There is a frame of mind that states that an athlete will not be able to get to their true potential if they do not focus on one sport. This doesn't mean that when they are off-season they get a break, sports are year round and have training programs that won't give children a moments rest. When I was in 8th, I was playing field hockey for my high school every weekday and playing for an indoor softball league both Saturday and Sunday.
This increase can be attributed to the intense practices that children participate in. Last week I was passing some football fields and I saw 6 and 7 year olds running sprints under the lights. If you are on a good team that is participating at a high level, practices can be very intense and you are expected to go full out in both practice and in games.
Lastly, this increase can be because athletes are on more than one team in order to maximize their chances at college, or making an elite team. When I was in 9th grade I was playing on 3 different softball teams to try to find my place. This means, more practices and more chances to get hurt.
The real question is do we really understand the risk that all these practices and games gives to children?
http://www.mch.com/page/EN/5193/Sports-Medicine/Sports-Injury-Tips.aspx
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Protective Goggles... Helpful or Harmful?
This story brings me back to my days in playing field hockey in high school. When I was in 8th grade (my HS 7-12) this rule came into effect, wearing goggles at all times during field hockey. The article Going Deep: Opinions evenly split on the value of goggles in field hockey refers to the debate that is still going on about whether the goggles are helpful, or add more danger to the game.
This article goes on to describe how the National Federation of High Schools has made it a mandate as of April that goggles must be wore at all times during field hockey. This rule is something that Massachusetts players have been following for years. This has caused a lot of outrage in the field hockey community because eye injuries do not occur at a high enough rate to warrant the goggles. At the same time, the medical community is applauding the effort because the eye injuries that are caused by field hockey can be catastrophic.
According to this article a study was done by Dr. Dawn Comstock, and this study claims that 25% of injuries in the sport of field hockey are an eye or facial injury. Field hockey balls travel at high speeds and it takes one deflection or high hit to cause injuries. These goggles do protect the athletes eyes and give a sense of safety to the athletes.
However, in the article it also states that this study was done on a very small scale and another study done by the Catastrophic Sports Injury Research Center in North Carolina found that over 25 years, there were only 2 catastrophic eye injuries recorded. Goggles also reduce the peripheral vision of the athletes and can lead to more collisions as well as not being able to react as quick to a high ball or stick. Coaches have also reported that since this rule has been in effect, more collisions have occured. The reason being is the athletes feel a sense of protection with the goggles and are more likely to make bodily contact. Some high school coaches have reported a high er number of collisions than they have ever seen. There is also the issue that goggles can cause more serious injuries. When two players collided previously, heads may bump and lead to concussions. With the goggles present that might turn into a more serious situation with head and facial lacerations from the goggles.
Cris Maloney a field hockey referee in New Jersey set up a website GoggleInjury.com less than 2 weeks ago. Already there are 39 total incidents reported and only 1 incident claimed that goggles prevented severe injury while 34 caused or exacerbated the injury.
I have to admit I am torn about this article. One athlete with a catastrophic eye injury is one too many, but how many are getting injured because of the goggles. Either way people are getting hurt and obviously that it something to avoid. I have some bias as well because I was a field hockey player in high school. I played for 6 years and the goggles were just there, I never saw them help or hurt someone. However, I do understand how hard it is to play with them and I have to admit that there seems to be an increased amount of injuries as a direct result.
What do you think?
This is what a typical field hockey player would wear to a game. When I was in high school, we wore actual goggles with plastic instead of a cage. However, during or hot days, they often fogged, sometimes making it difficult to play. Those type of goggles still exist and are used at the USA field hockey level.
This article goes on to describe how the National Federation of High Schools has made it a mandate as of April that goggles must be wore at all times during field hockey. This rule is something that Massachusetts players have been following for years. This has caused a lot of outrage in the field hockey community because eye injuries do not occur at a high enough rate to warrant the goggles. At the same time, the medical community is applauding the effort because the eye injuries that are caused by field hockey can be catastrophic.
According to this article a study was done by Dr. Dawn Comstock, and this study claims that 25% of injuries in the sport of field hockey are an eye or facial injury. Field hockey balls travel at high speeds and it takes one deflection or high hit to cause injuries. These goggles do protect the athletes eyes and give a sense of safety to the athletes.
However, in the article it also states that this study was done on a very small scale and another study done by the Catastrophic Sports Injury Research Center in North Carolina found that over 25 years, there were only 2 catastrophic eye injuries recorded. Goggles also reduce the peripheral vision of the athletes and can lead to more collisions as well as not being able to react as quick to a high ball or stick. Coaches have also reported that since this rule has been in effect, more collisions have occured. The reason being is the athletes feel a sense of protection with the goggles and are more likely to make bodily contact. Some high school coaches have reported a high er number of collisions than they have ever seen. There is also the issue that goggles can cause more serious injuries. When two players collided previously, heads may bump and lead to concussions. With the goggles present that might turn into a more serious situation with head and facial lacerations from the goggles.
Cris Maloney a field hockey referee in New Jersey set up a website GoggleInjury.com less than 2 weeks ago. Already there are 39 total incidents reported and only 1 incident claimed that goggles prevented severe injury while 34 caused or exacerbated the injury.
I have to admit I am torn about this article. One athlete with a catastrophic eye injury is one too many, but how many are getting injured because of the goggles. Either way people are getting hurt and obviously that it something to avoid. I have some bias as well because I was a field hockey player in high school. I played for 6 years and the goggles were just there, I never saw them help or hurt someone. However, I do understand how hard it is to play with them and I have to admit that there seems to be an increased amount of injuries as a direct result.
What do you think?
Saturday, September 24, 2011
You Never Know.
I receieved this video from one of my past ACI. Take a look at it, it is really a true case of treating every injury like it could be life threatening.
IN THE NEWS: A coach encouraging faking injuries?...
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/09/22/rams-linebacker-says-giants-perry-fewell-coaches-faking-injuries/
There are some claims coming out about how the Giant's defensive coordinator, Perry Fellwell, has been encouraging his athletes to fake injuries in order to gain more time to make sure that the right players are on the field. This came as a result of last Monday night's contest of the Giants vs the Rams in which two Giants players supposedly faked injuries to gain more time. These claims have been made by a former player, Brian Kehl that this is nothing new.
There are some claims coming out about how the Giant's defensive coordinator, Perry Fellwell, has been encouraging his athletes to fake injuries in order to gain more time to make sure that the right players are on the field. This came as a result of last Monday night's contest of the Giants vs the Rams in which two Giants players supposedly faked injuries to gain more time. These claims have been made by a former player, Brian Kehl that this is nothing new.
Clearly this is something that the NFL is going to look into and it needs to be looked at from more than one perspective, the fairness to the other players and the fairness to the medical staff, including the athletic trainer. The athletic trainer is certainly affected by this as in the sense of urgency can be affected. Although I am sure that the staff will try to maintain that urgency, it is tough when they might encounter so many faked injuries to have the same sense of urgency when a serious injury comes along. Not only that, but obviously it can affect the integrity of the athletic trianer if they are forced to go along with the charade.
This can happen at any level of competition, it is not just restricted to the professional level. There are coaches at any level willing to win at any cost and fakin injuries can be a part of that. As professionals, we are going to have to deal with coaches who have this attitude and may encourage their athletes to fake injuries. The important thing we have to keep in mind is to treat every injury like it is real, no matter what. You really never know when it could be something really serious. This is one area that during my education, I have not really thought of. I knew that this was a possibility, but never how I would react if there was a coach encouraging this. It's really something to think about.
Let's hope that these claims arent really true, but look at the video. You tell me...
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