Recovering from Soccer Injuries

All levels, whether it's a World Cup or in youth soccer, push their bodies to the limit when they hit the pitch. And unfortunately, that does mean injury. Sometimes we saw Christian Pulisic. He got hurt. He had the bone bruise, the micro fracture while he was already nursing another injury. It happens. Injuries like ruptured Achilles tendons, ankle sprains, torn cartilage concussions. We've seen a lot of that shin splints. I mean, it goes on and on and on and on. Rehabilitation is vital for speedy recovery. So how should we handle that? We're joining us with more on the process. Orthopedic sports medicine surgeon Dr Christopher Kading. Good morning. Good morning. So what do we typically see when it comes to soccer injuries, maybe more so than other sports? Well, obviously it's a lot of lower extremity work, and it's a combination of overuse because they train so hard. And then the acute collisions and, you know, the shoe surface interface is a, um, try to increase that, um, friction coefficient so they can be cut and turn and perform better. That takes the forces and takes it up the leg, and they look at knee injuries. So what is it when we look at a lot of these athletes and then you hear, especially at the elite level, like we're talking about now, they could have an injury, and they'll say, Oh, the recovery time is a couple of weeks. And why do I feel like if that injury happens to us, the recovery time is a couple of months at a minimum. What are they doing differently in their recovery? Well, I think there's probably two things going on. One, they're just genetically blessed to be with a great neuromuscular system, right? So they heal and respond a lot faster than the average human being. The other thing is they have all the latest in hands on technology and these different rehab modalities. If you got hurt, your physician may send you to physical therapy twice a week for 4 to 6 weeks. These guys are probably getting physical therapy that starts, you know, within hours of the injury, and they're getting it multiple times a day, not just, you know, twice a week. And there's no question that can speed the recovery. Yeah, so the pace is quicker than when it comes to the amount of work they're putting in to try to get healthier. Speaking of healthier, the best way to not have to recover from an injury is not to get hurt in the first place. Is there anything that we can be doing even if we're just, you know, weekend warriors or maybe we're inspired by watching the World Cup and we say, Listen, I want to I want to go be a little more active these days. What can we do, I guess, in advance to make sure that we're, you know, stretched out limber and not going to pull as many muscles or tear the ligaments is if we is if we weren't. So the you know, everyone knows about, you know, warm up and do some gentle stretching beforehand. But you also want to ease into it. You don't make that huge commitment. We go from zero to 60 on your activity level or whatever you're doing. You need to have a, you know, a reasonable progression to that higher level of activity because you get too rapid a progression. Try to get back doing too much too much volume of active too quickly. You're just setting yourself for an injury. Is there a level and I ask you this is a surgeon. Is there a level where for the average person, I know it depends on the injury in the person, but you know, not the professional athlete, professional athlete, they're going to get surgery. Like you said, they're going to go into a hardcore recovery for the average person. Is there a point where, you know, you advise like maybe this should be a surgery or maybe you can rehab this out? Yes. So you're right. Some of these injuries, they can be treated non operably or they can be treated with surgery. And um, that's where we go through a process called shared decision making. You know, the, um, I'm not sure the surgeon or the management of the team physician should be making that decision. I think we're obligated to outline the pros and cons, the benefits and costs of each option. And a lot of times it boils down to a kind of risk benefit analysis and um, what the benefit and risks are. You have to prioritize how those are, how important are they to you and sometimes how the athlete prioritizes a risk of benefit might be different than someone else. But that's why you have to have that open discussion. Yeah, it makes makes total sense. Doctor, you've been watching the World Cup. Are you enjoying the action? Absolutely. Love it. Any prediction for Spain, France today? Boy, that's a toss up. I can't say. Um, I think as I just heard, it's gonna be a good game regardless. Yeah, I agree with you there. It's gonna be great. Unfortunately, one team can win, but it will be fun to watch orthopedic surgeon dr Christopher Katie. Thank you so much for being part of our show today. We do appreciate it. Thank you. You're very welcome. And with that more from bruce coming up another breakdown in just a few minutes, and we'll talk in a few more details and look ahead to tomorrow's big match as well. It's 12 22. We'll see you right after this.