Principles & Practice of Pain Medicine > Part V. Pain Syndromes > B. Acute and Perioperative Pain > Chapter 43. Assessment and Treatment of Pain in Sports Injuries Joseph Audette and Walter Frontera

Overview

"As our knowledge increases regarding the health benefits of exercise, more and more people attempt to stay healthy and physically fit with sports-related activities. As a result, sports injuries are no longer confined to a small group of competitive athletes but affect an ever-growing segment of the population. Improper training techniques, over-ambitious routines, and the use of faulty equipment have led to an increase in sports injuries (especially overuse injuries) and resultant pain syndromes. In the pediatric population, younger and younger children engage in highly competitive sports with training schedules that put them at increased risk for injury. Elite athletes, under the pressure of commercial interests and more widely disseminated knowledge about exercise physiology and training methods, are driven to greater extremes in order to gain small but significant advantages over the competition. This has led to overambitious workouts with inadequate rest periods. Many athletes suffer from chronic pain and injury as a result...."