Last week I wrote about my experience as an athlete that had an anterior cruciate ligament injury. This week I’d like to cover the importance of the ACL and why the mere mention of an ACL injury strikes fear into many athletes. The ACL is one of the four major ligaments of the knee. The medial and lateral collateral ligaments are located on the inside and outside portion of the knee, respectively. The oft-injured ACL and its neighbor the posterior cruciate ligament are located inside the knee joint. Even though ACL injuries are not thought of as a common hockey …
RICE & MICE: My ACL injury
Since I started writing for Flyers Faithful, a lingering thought has been in the not-so-distant depths of my mind to write about ACL injuries. It was not so long ago that a torn anterior cruciate ligament of the knee was a death sentence of sorts for most athletes. It is an injury that is near and dear to my heart, or knee, rather. This will be a multi-part contribution as I am able to give medical, surgical and patient perspectives on this particular injury. I’ll start with the patient perspective. It was a gorgeous, albeit hot, Saturday in May in 1998. …
RICE & MICE: Hip pointers
A hip pointer usually results from a direct blow to either the outside edge of the pelvis (the iliac crest), or the outer aspect of the hip (greater trochanter of the femur) and is an extremely painful injury. The bone and overlying muscle are often bruised, and the pain can be intense and even be felt when, laughing or coughing. Bleeding usually occurs around the front and side of the hip, into the abdominals and gluteus muscles. This bleeding causes swelling and makes movement of the hip very painful. Some players can develop a hematoma, or “pocket of blood” in …
RICE & MICE: The phenomenon of delayed-onset muscle soreness
While not technically an injury, delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) is a phenomenon that every athlete experiences and can cause significant discomfort and pain. DOMS occurs in response to increased exertion and can also occur after “new” activities and exercises. The delayed onset peaks in 1-2 days following exertion and the soreness usually will resolve in around 4 days, though full recovery may take a week. An older school of thought attributed DOMS to a lactic acid build up in muscles. Lactic acid accumulation can cause some discomfort during and immediately after exercise, but only lasts an hour or so. …
RICE & MICE: (Medial) Collateral Damage
RICE & MICE will periodically review injuries that are common, uncommon or just plain unique in hockey. I hope to provide some insight to the “how’s, why’s, and when’s” of the injuries that might keep players out of the lineup. The medial collateral ligament or MCL is one of the oft injured ligaments in contact sports, especially ice hockey and football. As its name indicates, the MCL is on the medial or inside part of each knee. It is most often injured when contact is made to the lateral or outer portion of the knee, however the injury can also occur …
RICE & MICE: The Separated Shoulder
RICE & MICE will periodically review injuries that are common, uncommon or just plain unique in hockey. I hope to provide some insight to the “how’s, why’s, and when’s” of the injuries that might keep players out of the lineup. Shoulder separations, otherwise known as acromioclavicular (AC) joint sprains are another one of those very common injuries in ice hockey. So common, in fact, that it would be challenging to find a skater in the NHL that didn’t suffer this injury at one point or another in his hockey career. The AC joint consists of the clavicle (aka collarbone), the scapula …
RICE & MICE: Leighton’s Back
RICE & MICE will periodically review injuries that are common, uncommon or just plain unique in hockey. I hope to provide some insight to the “how’s, why’s, and when’s” of the injuries that might keep players out of the lineup. The Flyers announced last night that the NHL granted a two game extension to Michael Leighton’s conditioning stint with the Adirondack Phantoms that allows him to stay on LTIR status for another week. Leighton underwent surgery on October 11th for a herniated disk in his lower back and while the surgery was successful, he is still experiencing residual numbness and weakness …
RICE & MICE: You down with PRP?
RICE & MICE will periodically review injuries that are common, uncommon or just plain unique in hockey. I hope to provide some insight to the “how’s, why’s, and when’s” of the injuries that might keep players out of the lineup. Yeah you know me! Who’s down with PRP? This whole party! Ok, forgive me for the corny Naughty by Nature reference. PRP, or platelet rich plasma, is something that is becoming ever so popular in the world of sports medicine. It is used more and more in professional sports in order to accelerate healing of soft tissue injuries. It has been …
RICE & MICE: The pain of high ankle sprains
RICE & MICE will periodically review injuries that are common, uncommon or just plain unique in hockey. I hope to provide some insight to the “how’s, why’s, and when’s” of the injuries that might keep players out of the lineup. Let’s talk ankle sprains. Sprains commonly refer to stretching or tearing of ligaments. In a general sense, ligaments connect bone to bone and offer stability to joints. They allow a certain amount of flexibility to account for uneven surfaces when we walk and to keep the joints aligned and moving correctly and even act as shock absorbers to some extent. A …
RICE & MICE: Mind Games
RICE & MICE will periodically review injuries that are common, uncommon or just plain unique in hockey. I hope to provide some insight to the “how’s, why’s, and when’s” of the injuries that might keep players out of the lineup. “The NHL player is a marvelous subject for everyone but his physician; they will happily and freely lie to you with a smile on their face about their health,” said Toronto Maple Leafs GM, Brian Burke, in a recent Sporting News article. When a player gets “dinged,” has his “bell rung,” or just plain gets “knocked out,” a concussion by any …