With football season here, the prevlaence of sports-related injuries is taking many headlines and now experts are expressing their concern for the rare injuries that seem to be occuring
—
With the NFL season underway, the issue of injuries has taken over headlines again. Just in the first weekend of games, the “injury bug” bit so hard that it may ruin the entire season for some players and teams. Experts are hoping it may also help to teach a necessary lesson.
This was obvious in the Jacksonville vs. Kansas City game. Fans had high hopes for the Jaguars with Nick Foles making his debut after departing the Eagles as a free agent. It isn’t very often that the MVP quarterback from the Super Bowl is able to change teams so easily. That, combined with his opening day record of 3-0, there’s no question that the Chiefs didn’t look as formidable as many hoped the team would.
With 5:31 left in the first quarter, the visitors were leading 10 to 0 and Foles dropped back, throwing a 35-year touchdown strike to Chark. While the Jacksonville fans were thrilled with this development, this joy was short-lived. After the ball was released, Foles was hit by Chris Jones, who landed hard on Foles’ left shoulder. Experts agree it was amazing that he was able to get up and jog it off as his left collar bone was broken.
When the game was over, Foles had surgery scheduled for Monday. He’s expected to go into the injured reserve and return to active game play by November. If no hardware was placed via surgery, he would likely be out for the entire season.
What’s surprising about this injury, and ones like it is that it’s extremely rare to see on the football field, and most medics don’t have athletic training kits and medical bags with the proper supplies for treating these injuries dueto their rarity. This injury is most commonly seen in motor vehicle accidents and martial arts. It’s so rare, that only about 150 of these have been documented in all medical literature.
Also, there’s a danger of the injury. Because it is so rare, the likelihood of it being misdiagnosed is also prevalent. With the mechanism of the actual injury and the fact that the person’s entire shoulder area is probably sore, many doctors misdiagnose this as an acromioclavicular joint separation or a clavicular fracture, which is on the other end of the clavicle.
This is why it is so important for a full physical examination to be performed, rather than using x-rays along to determine the issue. By having the proper supplies in the athletic training kits and medical bags carried by those on the field, it’s also possible to avoid doing even more damage to the player while they are still on the field. The area where the sternum and clavicle meet is going to be tenner, there could be swelling, and a bump. Where the other clavicle meets on the other side of the body, those issues will be absent.
Foles was lucky, as the Chiefs sideline medical staff immediately recognized what this injury was, and there wasn’t any soft tissue at risk. Thanks to having the right knowledge of this injury and the right supplies on hand, Foles will return to active play before the end of the season, which is something that may not have been possible if he had been misdiagnosed.
Contact Info:
Name: Jeremy Gesicki
Email: Send Email
Organization: Mueller Sports Medicine
Website: https://www.muellersportsmed.com
Source: MarketersMEDIA
Release ID: 88918448
