Some of you are amazing at getting your physicals and turning them in on time. CONGRATULATIONS to you. You rock every athletic trainers socks off. Seriously, athletic trainers love athletes like you.
But even you wonderfully punctual athletes have teammates who ask the question above, in their own words of course. You probably also know of some who have tried to practice without them and gotten pretty mad when they got caught. Let me try to explain why physicals are sooooooo important before participation with a few examples.
I worked at a college back in the day, you know, when I had to walk uphill in snow both ways...in Florida. Anyway, most colleges have a doctor come in and perform pre-participation orthopedic physicals and somehow our communication got pretty screwed up with the doctor's office for one of our dates. He ended up not showing. Now, for those of you who think it's not a big deal, here's one reason we are so fussy about it.
One girl had a previous history of knee injuries. She even had surgery earlier in the year. She started practicing and went for a week before we saw the doctor. He did some tests on her and discovered that she had reinjured her knee and would need another surgery. She played the season as best she could and ended up doing rehab with me four times a week to try and keep her going. She had surgery after season and ended up unable to play until two years later. By then, she'd lost her spot.
Another instance could have ended in a much more severe situation than losing a spot on the team. A guy who had been playing football and basketball most of his life came in for the pre-participation physical and saw the doctor. During the examination, the athlete complained that since the last game last year, he'd been experiencing difficulty breathing and pain in his right arm when he exercised. The doctor ended up keeping him from practice and doing some tests. It turned out that the guy had developed a heart condition. If he had returned to sport and been hit in the chest, he might have died.
I know that physicals can seem like a hassle but there is a reason that EVERY school requires them before participating in sports. We do it for your safety. We do it to protect you. We do it because we care. So buck up and get those physicals, preferably not the day before practices are going to start.
But even you wonderfully punctual athletes have teammates who ask the question above, in their own words of course. You probably also know of some who have tried to practice without them and gotten pretty mad when they got caught. Let me try to explain why physicals are sooooooo important before participation with a few examples.
I worked at a college back in the day, you know, when I had to walk uphill in snow both ways...in Florida. Anyway, most colleges have a doctor come in and perform pre-participation orthopedic physicals and somehow our communication got pretty screwed up with the doctor's office for one of our dates. He ended up not showing. Now, for those of you who think it's not a big deal, here's one reason we are so fussy about it.
One girl had a previous history of knee injuries. She even had surgery earlier in the year. She started practicing and went for a week before we saw the doctor. He did some tests on her and discovered that she had reinjured her knee and would need another surgery. She played the season as best she could and ended up doing rehab with me four times a week to try and keep her going. She had surgery after season and ended up unable to play until two years later. By then, she'd lost her spot.
Another instance could have ended in a much more severe situation than losing a spot on the team. A guy who had been playing football and basketball most of his life came in for the pre-participation physical and saw the doctor. During the examination, the athlete complained that since the last game last year, he'd been experiencing difficulty breathing and pain in his right arm when he exercised. The doctor ended up keeping him from practice and doing some tests. It turned out that the guy had developed a heart condition. If he had returned to sport and been hit in the chest, he might have died.
I know that physicals can seem like a hassle but there is a reason that EVERY school requires them before participating in sports. We do it for your safety. We do it to protect you. We do it because we care. So buck up and get those physicals, preferably not the day before practices are going to start.