Pain killing injections

[lappinitup 629]

You used to hear of footballers having pain killing injections to get them through games / until the end of the season etc, but they don''t seem to be mentioned anymore. Has the practice been banned or have clubs stopped using them of their own accord because of the risks to the future health of players? Or are they still used and we just don''t hear of them any more?

[Juggy 0]

I always wondered whether Huckerby used these in the last few months of his last season with us to play through his hip injury. 

But they are generally a stupid idea because pain happens for a reason, and it would be unfair to ask a player to take them. Dominic Matteo came out and said that Leeds United would give him injections and that it was of major detriment to him later in his career. 

But no, they are definitely not illegal, here is our very only Sebastian Bassong talking about them: http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Tottenham-s-Sebastien-Bassong-has-condemned-English-players-use-of-pain-killing-injections-article653869.html

[BOO 0]

According to Wes Pilks is having injections at the moment to deal with his knee ligaments, not sure if these would be pain killers, anti inflamatories or steroids?

[BOO 0]

"“It’s a pity because this would have been a good opportunity to see him,” said Trapattoni. “He has hurt his ligaments and had to pull out with a swollen knee. Hoolahan told me that he has pain and needs injections"

[PortlandCanary 0]

Cortisone injections are pretty common for sports injuries still. It''s a very effective treatment. I''m a runner, and I get these injections on occasion.

[BroadstairsR 2,273]

I vaguely remember Ted McDougall making a stance against taking them decades ago so it is not a new debate, although the drugs available today will probably be more sophisticated.

[Lets be aving you! 0]

Can I get one after Mr Oliver''s next "performance"?

 

[BOO 0]

In think the problem was not so much the drugs themselves but the tissue damaged caused by playing with and injury, Tommy Smith comes to mind.

[Redders Right Foot 22]

Pain killing injections disappeared with the introduction of that mysterious "magical spray can" shenanigans that seems to fix even broken bones.

[William Darby 0]

[quote user="Vanwink"]In think the problem was not so much the drugs themselves but the tissue damaged caused by playing with and injury, Tommy Smith comes to mind.[/quote]

I''ve read that in the past, players that had too many injections during their careers had long term problems after retirement.

[Howson is now! 0]

The biggest issue with these injections is not the use of them for treatment, but the use of them to continue playing. There is a massive difference between someone like Pilkington who is having them to ensure a full recovery, to a player like Matteo who was having them for years just to be able to play every week.

 

As VanWink and a few others have alluded to, there is pain for a reason. To continue to play when you can no longer feel the pain (and the damage you''re doing to your body) is mind boggling to me as someone who has always taken injuries very seriously and view them that the sooner you rest up or get them fixed, the sooner you can heal.

 

I guess I''ve never had a career depending on that though.

[NCFC for life 1993- 0]

I had a steroid injection into my foot this past week after getting kicked by a defender following through after a clearance. Suffered nerve damage and been out since April. Not fun and the injection has done nothing. Sad times.

[Buster Douglas 0]

Ignorance is bliss so they say and I''m quite happy, so here''s my question.

In the athletics world I''m sure if any athlete was to use pain killing injections/cortisone/steroids these would be considered illegal and thus face a ban from competition. In the football world aren''t the players now subject to the same rules in so far as performance enhancing drugs are concerned, thinking back to the ban for Rio (the most over rated player ever) Ferdinand''s ban for failing to give a drugs test. Or do they just check for recreational drugs like coke and weed??

 

I have heard in the past that the pain killing drugs, whilst help in the short-term can really lead to serious long term injuries with continued use.

 

OTBC

[NorthWalesCanary 0]

@Mr Lister

Drug testing in football is a joke. They are rarely tested and it is almost never blood tests. Bayern Munich, Barca, Real, Atletico and a handful of other sides are all using or have used doctors banned from cycling for doping offences. There is also a lot of stuff (like cortisone) that''s legal in football but not in most other sports.

[PortlandCanary 0]

I think you guys are confusing a common medical treatment for performance enhancing drugs. Cortisone is not an anabolic steroid and is not in the same drug category as those nefarious concoctions that Mr. Armstrong and his like are so fond of. Think of it as a concentrated dose of Ibuprofen. I''m not aware of these injections being banned by any athletic associations; nor should they.

[Buster Douglas 0]

Thanks Portland, hence my question, my use of drugs has been very limited! Need to get out more!!

[PortlandCanary 0]

No worries. I''ve done enough drugs for the both of us.

[NorthWalesCanary 0]

Cortisone is banned in cycling without prior permission. You can use it for certain injuries but never in the injected form.

[Dubai Mark 0]

I can recall being told that, whilst with City, Martin Peters relied on pain killing injections for his knees to play in matches......all time great of course. 

[JayNCFC 14]

Hope I am not hijacking this thread but this sort of thing always reminds me of this article... Interesting read.<a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/2388078/Arsenal-players-used-EPO-says-Wenger.html">Arsene Wenger EPO</a>We have had some players come to us at Arsenal from other clubs abroad

and their red blood cell count has been abnormally high," Wenger told

the Independent. "That kind of thing makes you wonder.

[Juggy 0]

[quote user="NorthWalesCanary"]Cortisone is banned in cycling without prior permission. You can use it for certain injuries but never in the injected form.[/quote]

I once overheard a conversation amongst professional boxers about cortisone, they had all had the injections in their shoulders. No big household names but all professionals nonetheless. I wonder whether that is illegal in boxing or whether they are permitted to do that? One said something about only being able to do it three times in the same spot, although not sure if that was regulatory or for medical/health reasons. 

[Shack Attack 0]

[quote user="NorthWalesCanary"]Cortisone is banned in cycling without prior permission. You can use it for certain injuries but never in the injected form.[/quote]There are random tests on cortisol levels in cycling (although I believe this is not done by the authorities and is instead limited to members of the MPCC) which attempt to catch riders using large doses of cortisone. Cortisol is a hormone produced naturally by the adrenal glands that sit on top of the kidneys and the body stops producing it when you start taking large doses of cortisone. This is considered a ''health check'' rather than an anti-doping measure and is intended to protect riders from being forced to continue cycling through an injury.NWC is sort of correct in that cortisone is banned in cycling without prior permission (a Theraputic Use Exemption or TUE) although there are exceptions. As far as I understand the current rules are as follows. Any local injection of corticosteroids will result in a rider being required to sit out competition for 48 hours. Administration of corticosteroids orally, rectally or through intramuscular or intravenous injection require a full TUE application but administration by any other means (and there are plenty) is not banned. It''s a fairly grey area but at least the authorities are trying to do something. The problem of course is that the UCI (much like FIFA) are responsible for promoting the sport and attracting sponsorship so there is a clear conflict of interest in allowing them to also be involved in anti-doping measures. I think that if the will was there to dig a little deeper we could see some serious doping scandals surrounding the world of football but it is such a huge sport these days that it will never happen. It would certainly be interesting to find out who those blood bags from the Operation Puerto investigation belonged to but unfortunately (or predictably if you prefer) they are going to be destroyed.

[Syteanric 1]

you can get a cortisone injection on the NHS so it certainly isnt illegal.

the stuff stays in your system for ages after the injection (sometimes months) and do have some muscle/bone degrading side affects.

Years ago Physios used to inject cortisone like it was water.. players have sine suffered badly with severe health issues.

I have no doubt it is still used, but in a more controlled environment. If a Player says no it''s no!

[It's Character Forming 1,204]

I think the difference between football and say cycling is that say the Tour de France is very one-dimensional in that at the top level, it''s all about endurance and the winning margin is very small.  So if a cyclist can take drugs that give him a marginal boost to his endurance, that can be enought to make the difference.  Ditto with sprinting being all about power, etc.

 

Whereas a footballer needs to be able to compete in numerous different dimensions, if you took a drug to enhance your performance in one way, it could cause problems in other ways.  I think the risk with using pain-killing drugs to let players play through injuries are more the long-term damage on the body as people have discussed, rather than the drugs artificially improving performance on the pitch.

 

Not saying football is free of the drugs problems that other sports have, but I think football is less prone to drugs being abused to improve perfomance.

[PortlandCanary 0]

[quote]

I think the difference between football and say cycling is that say the Tour de France is very one-dimensional in that at the top level, it''s all about endurance and the winning margin is very small.  So if a cyclist can take drugs that give him a marginal boost to his endurance, that can be enought to make the difference.  Ditto with sprinting being all about power, etc.

 

Whereas a footballer needs to be able to compete in numerous different dimensions, if you took a drug to enhance your performance in one way, it could cause problems in other ways.  I think the risk with using pain-killing drugs to let players play through injuries are more the long-term damage on the body as people have discussed, rather than the drugs artificially improving performance on the pitch.

 

Not saying football is free of the drugs problems that other sports have, but I think football is less prone to drugs being abused to improve perfomance.

[/quote]

^This.

[Shack Attack 0]

[quote user="Its Character Forming"]

I think the difference between football and say cycling is that say the Tour de France is very one-dimensional in that at the top level, it''s all about endurance and the winning margin is very small.  So if a cyclist can take drugs that give him a marginal boost to his endurance, that can be enought to make the difference.  Ditto with sprinting being all about power, etc.

[/quote]I''ve heard this kind of explanation before as to why something like EPO wouldn''t benefit footballers (or tennis players) as it would athletes in an endurance sport such as cycling but I''m not so sure. Football is a sport where more technical skill is required (although many people would argue that the balance between physical fitness and technical skill has tilted more towards the former in the modern game) but those skills are a lot easier to perform when you have time and space. A drug which allowed you gain an extra yard of space on your opponent (especially in the latter stages of games) could only be beneficial surely? I can open a can of beans with my left foot when I''m kicking a ball around in the garden with my kids but if you dropped me into a competitive game these days I bet I would struggle to ever get a pass or shot away.Footballers cover more and more distance and play more and more games than ever before and we are asked to believe that this is possible because Arsene Wenger invented pasta sometime in the 1990s?