Wrestling is a very demanding sport physically, emotionally, and mentally. Being a wrestler takes its toll on your body which makes your body weak and not able to play for many years.
Usually wrestlers don't play much longer after college because their bodies are so tired from the constant fluctuation of weight gain/loss and muscle, forcing their bodies to regurgitate food or starve, the intense workout regimes, and the wear and tear of muscle and bones from being hit and/or injured over the years.
Wrestling is not one of those sports that you can play for your entire life, your body can't physically keep up this strain. So years down the line what happens to wrestlers bodies? Can they still play? Do they have chronic injuries from when they were wrestling? Are they out of shape? All these things are important to see if wrestling affects, in a harmful way, the post-wrestlers future physically, mentally, and emotionally.
Mark Burner who is now 55, played wrestling for Yale University and suffers everyday from his years of playing.
“I have really bad knees”, said Burner “I can't run very well because I have arthritis in both knees. When I was wrestling I was forced to starve myself to get into the lower weight class, I basically gave myself an eating disorder and now it's a constant struggle.”
Burner is hurting not only physically but mentally and emotionally because eating disorders are not only physically damaging but they are very much physiological. Eating disorders cannot be fixed by telling someone who is anorexic to eat or a bulimic to stop throwing up or a compulsive over eater to not eat so much. They have to overcome their mental self, to change their mentality of their body image and to see that they are perfect the way they are.
Most people think that men would never have an eating disorder because why would they have low self-esteem of their body image. But once wrestling is over for good, post-wrestlers are thinking they are ugly or fat because they no longer have 8% body fat and they resort to the one thing they can control—food. This is a life long condition, it never goes away the only way not to die from it is to be very conscious of your disorder and control it.
Wrestling has also affected Burner physically by all the injuries.
“My knees have actually gotten worse and I'm considering getting new ones.” said Burner “I also have a bad lower back and ankles. I loved wrestling but it definitely has taken it's toll on my body especially in recent years—I'm really feeling the beatings from when I was younger now being older and bigger.”
Wrestling is a great sport when looked at with an iced cold eye. But when you looked at the deaths of young men who are trying to lose weight for the wrestling weight classes or the serious affects of eating disorders that some may have the rest of their lives or the psychological pain they are put in by wrestling that will affect them later years, you think—is wrestling really worth it? Because I don't think it is if someone can change the rules so they are not so men do not need to put them through so much pain then I would approve of it. But risking a mans life for a sport hardly seems worth it.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Injuries in Wrestling
“When you sign up for wrestling—you are signing up for injuries”
These were the first words TCNJ's Athletic Trainer, Megan Guicheteau, said when asked about wrestlers' injuries.
“When guys sign up for football or soccer there is a possibility that they will become injured but on average the injuries don't last longer than two weeks.” continued Guicheteau. “When wrestlers sign up they are guaranteed to get injured and they are long-term injuries. Lasting usually four to six weeks at best...usually longer.”
The physical strain wrestlers have to endure is far greater than any other sport. Wrestling has a much more aggressive nature in the playing of the game than other sports, which then leads to more injuries.
The most common injuries are knee injuries, ankle injuries and shoulder injuries. Also high on the list of common injuries are over-use injuries, injuries from the impact of landing hard on the mat, and injuries from contact with their opponent during a meet (for instance, concussions, muscle soreness, and bruising).
The three different kinds of bruises are subcutaneous, a bruise beneath the skin; intramuscular, a bruise within a muscle; and periosteal, a bruise to a bone. These are all very common among wrestlers.
The shoulder injuries consist mostly of rotator cuff tendinitis from the persistent strain of grappling their opponent for position. The knee injuries are usually jarred knees from planting their feet on the ground to control their balance. Ankle injuries are usually sprains and occur when the wrestler lands in an inverted or everted position.
“For football players we usually see around forty players at the same time,” said Guicheteau. “But that's out of ninety to a hundred players on the team. We have around forty-five to fifty wrestlers and we usually treat thirty to forty of them at the same time and their injuries are usually more serious and more painful than the football players' injuries.”
Just over a month ago on the TCNJ's wrestling team, Joe Falco sprained his ankle. He was out for two weeks but those weeks seemed like eternity.
“I just tried not to think about being injured.” said Falco “It's so hard being out and watching everyone around you still practicing and playing. I felt like I was never going to get better. I was lucky, though; it could have been a lot worse. Even now, when I’m healed, my ankle still bothers me sometimes. When I'm practicing or in a game I try just to focus on something else.”
Falco's mental game needs to be just as strong as his physical game because that is what holds his body together during a match.
Injuries in wrestling are very serious and cannot be taken lightly. The wrestler's body goes through so much strain from being malnourished, exercising excessively and playing a sport which causes the most injuries that it takes its toll on the players.
These were the first words TCNJ's Athletic Trainer, Megan Guicheteau, said when asked about wrestlers' injuries.
“When guys sign up for football or soccer there is a possibility that they will become injured but on average the injuries don't last longer than two weeks.” continued Guicheteau. “When wrestlers sign up they are guaranteed to get injured and they are long-term injuries. Lasting usually four to six weeks at best...usually longer.”
The physical strain wrestlers have to endure is far greater than any other sport. Wrestling has a much more aggressive nature in the playing of the game than other sports, which then leads to more injuries.
The most common injuries are knee injuries, ankle injuries and shoulder injuries. Also high on the list of common injuries are over-use injuries, injuries from the impact of landing hard on the mat, and injuries from contact with their opponent during a meet (for instance, concussions, muscle soreness, and bruising).
The three different kinds of bruises are subcutaneous, a bruise beneath the skin; intramuscular, a bruise within a muscle; and periosteal, a bruise to a bone. These are all very common among wrestlers.
The shoulder injuries consist mostly of rotator cuff tendinitis from the persistent strain of grappling their opponent for position. The knee injuries are usually jarred knees from planting their feet on the ground to control their balance. Ankle injuries are usually sprains and occur when the wrestler lands in an inverted or everted position.
“For football players we usually see around forty players at the same time,” said Guicheteau. “But that's out of ninety to a hundred players on the team. We have around forty-five to fifty wrestlers and we usually treat thirty to forty of them at the same time and their injuries are usually more serious and more painful than the football players' injuries.”
Just over a month ago on the TCNJ's wrestling team, Joe Falco sprained his ankle. He was out for two weeks but those weeks seemed like eternity.
“I just tried not to think about being injured.” said Falco “It's so hard being out and watching everyone around you still practicing and playing. I felt like I was never going to get better. I was lucky, though; it could have been a lot worse. Even now, when I’m healed, my ankle still bothers me sometimes. When I'm practicing or in a game I try just to focus on something else.”
Falco's mental game needs to be just as strong as his physical game because that is what holds his body together during a match.
Injuries in wrestling are very serious and cannot be taken lightly. The wrestler's body goes through so much strain from being malnourished, exercising excessively and playing a sport which causes the most injuries that it takes its toll on the players.
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