Recently, the Star Tribune published an article on professional athletes playing through pain. The article discussed whether the Vikings quarterback, Teddy Bridgewater, was not tough enough since he and the team elected not to play him against the Packers, four days after he suffered an ankle strain. The article also discussed how other athletes never missed a game due to injury. Furthermore, it basically said , if you are going to be a professional athlete, you need to play through pain.

Stupidity is playing while you are acutely injured to tell others you are tough. Pain is the way the body tells a person that they have an acute injury. Tissue damage stimulates the sensory fibers and initiates the body’s response to injury. Inflammation occurs, and then blood flow to the area increases in order too bring cells to clear the damage and initiate the healing process. Continuing to stress damaged tissue will usually only weaken the area or cause further injury. In an acute pain injury, protecting the region from further damage reduces the pain and allows quicker and more complete healing. The culture of toughness would be considered just stupidity from a medical viewpoint.

Professional athletes tend to have short careers in sports due to the fact that they tend to overstress areas of the body, causing permanent damage and reducing their abilities. Tiger Woods now is on the down side of his career due to back and leg injuries. Most football players do not play long into their 30’s due to injury. The NFL now has major lawsuits regarding concussion and head trauma. Many professional athletes have severely degenerated joints, back and neck issues from repetitive trauma, and now have chronic pain issues.

Acute pain is the signal from the body that there is tissue damage. Treating acute pain is doing the right stuff medically to allow the injury to properly heal. Chronic pain is not due to acute tissue damage and inflammation, but is an abnormal response to signals from previously healed damage. Rest is great for an acute injury but not for chronic pain. Activity can take your mind off the pain, release endorphins to act as natural pain relievers, and help build strength in affected areas. Activity in areas of chronic pain will decrease the pain in most cases. Working through chronic pain is tough, but it actually decreases pain signals and improves function.