Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Foot and ankle injuries will play a significant role in the upcoming Big Game

Several foot and ankle injuries will have their say in who wins this weekend’s Super Bowl between the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts. Five players between the two teams were limited or held out of practice over the last week because of foot or ankle related injuries.

The most significant and talked about of these injuries is to Indianapolis Colts defensive end Dwight Freeney. Freeney suffered in inversion-type injury during the Colts January 24th win over the New York Jets and has been held out of participation since. Freeney’s injury has been diagnosed as a grade III sprain involving the anterior talofibular ligament and calcaneofibular ligaments of the right ankle joint. A grade III injury is a complete tear of the ligament with significant swelling and instability.

Freeney has slept in a hyperbaric chamber (to increase oxygen concentration in his blood and therefore oxygen delivery to the ligaments), as well as used ARP (Accelerated Recovery Performance, an electric stimulation machine designed to speed the healing process) to improve his odds of playing this Sunday. As of Wednesday Freeney says the ankle is feeling better and he will likely play, which would be incredible given the severity of his injury. If Freeney is able to play it will say a great deal about his ability to cope with pain as well as the impact modern medical technology can have on sports.

For those of us who are not professional athletes with access to hyperbaric chambers and a team of athletic trainers, the usual course of treatment is one to two weeks of a protective long boot followed by two more weeks in an Aircast. After the two weeks in an Aircast, physical therapy and a functional brace are recommended for a period of up to six months. Suffice it to say, it would be a while before most of us would be back trying to get around the offensive line and tackle the quarterback!

Make sure to check us out at http://www.yourfootdoctor.com

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