THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, September 17, 1996 TAG: 9609170447
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAT DOOLEY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 208 lines
Paul Jimenez lay on the wrestling mat, looking up at the lights. A doctor asked if he remembered what happened.
He did.
He'd been winning Lake Taylor High School's first match in the Virginia Duals Tournament at Hampton Coliseum that Saturday morning last January, when his opponent, a 103-pound state champ from Kentucky, locked Jimenez's left arm in a chicken wing from behind.
The junior from Norfolk was slammed to the mat, hand first.
``I heard a snap,'' said Jimenez, 17. ``I couldn't feel anything. I thought it was broken.''
He was eased into a wheelchair, examined by an athletic trainer, then taken to the emergency room. There, a doctor yanked the elbow back into place. Jimenez let out a yelp. His elbow, he was told, had been dislocated, not broken.
But Jimenez, favored to win last year's state wrestling championship, had seen his last match of the season.
Now a senior, he's on the mend - thanks, in part, to the guidance of his school's athletic trainer and a rigorous weightlifting program to strengthen his left elbow, said Russell Flynn, Lake Taylor's wrestling coach and athletic director.
When it comes to team sports, injuries are inevitable. But the increasing presence of athletic trainers in high schools in recent years and an emphasis on overall conditioning - stretching, strengthening and building endurance - have led to a decline of sports injuries, experts say.
A study released last week by the National Athletic Trainers Association in Dallas, Texas, shows major and moderate injuries among high school basketball players have declined dramatically.
In the nationwide survey of 4,200 boys and girls in the 1995-96 season, injuries that sidelined basketball players for more than a week dropped about 31 percent from 1988, the year of the association's last study, said marketing director Ron Cunningham.
Part of a three-year look at high-school sports injuries, the statistics followed the release earlier this year of figures showing football injuries in '95-96 also had declined. There were 5.7 percent fewer moderate injuries and 3 percent fewer major injuries in football, Cunningham said.
The association defines moderate as any injury that sidelines players for eight to 21 days. Major injuries keep a player out of action for 21 days or more.
Minor injuries - cuts, bumps, bruises and other mishaps requiring less than a week's recovery - rose slightly, Cunningham said.
Sports help kids get fit, feel good and stay healthy, while teaching them how to work on a team and manage their time, the academy reports. But high school sports also produce more than a million injuries annually, Cunningham said.
About 6 million boys and girls will play high school sports this year, according to the Academy of Pediatrics.
Football, the most-played high school sport, attracts about 1.3 million participants and the highest number of injuries. About 39 percent of varsity players were hurt in 1995, Cunningham said.
About four players die each year, most often from traumas to the head or neck, and about 10 a year are permanently disabled, according to Fred Mueller, director of the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research at the University of North Carolina.
Basketball, played by a half-million high schoolers nationwide, resulted in 182,000 injuries in '95-96, the trainer's association estimates.
The association also is compiling statistics on wrestling, baseball and volleyball, Cunningham said. The results from '95-96 will be announced in late October.
In 1998, when the study is complete, the association plans to use the results to help its 16,000 member-trainers further reduce injuries through prevention, on-site evaluation and rehabilitation.
Most injuries among high-school athletes are minor, the pediatrics academy reports. Two-thirds are sprains, either to ligaments or muscles.
The most common serious injuries are to knees, the academy says. Only about 5 percent of all injuries are fractures.
``In terms of most common injuries, it's always ankle sprains - for any sport,'' said Dr. R. Brick Campbell, an orthopedic surgeon in Norfolk. ``Knees would be probably next, particularly for football. Then hands, fingers, thumbs.''
Sports injuries are categorized as acute or chronic, Campbell said.
Acute injuries are caused by a blow or strike, with a hockey stick, for example. Or, they may be caused by a sudden twist or turn.
Chronic injuries, such as tennis elbow, result from repetitive motion performed incorrectly, overuse or too much exercise too fast, Campbell said.
If an injury is not attended to immediately, it can worsen or turn up later in life - as ``trick'' joints, arthritis or nagging aches and pains.
``Muscular problems can haunt a person for a long time,'' said Terry Zablocki, assistant athletic trainer at Old Dominion University.
She tells the story of a young woman who came to ODU on a basketball scholarship. The player had suffered a torn meniscus, a knee injury, in high school but continued to play. Her high-school team didn't have a trainer and the injury was never treated, Zablocki said.
By the time the player came to ODU, even remedial care and surgery couldn't repair the long-term damage.
``She's 24 and is almost crippled,'' Zablocki said. ``She walks like she has the knee of a 70-year-old.''
Only about a third of U.S. high schools employ full-time trainers, who help with injury prevention, evaluation and rehabilitation, said Cunningham. They are most common at large schools, including those in South Hampton Roads, and the philosophy has trickled down from the professional and collegiate levels over the last dozen years.
The association believes the presence of trainers, along with an emphasis on conditioning, is the key to safer high school sports and to the proper treatment of injuries when they occur.
Trainers advocate conditioning - the development of strength, endurance and flexibility - as the best way to prevent injuries and re-injuries.
Endurance is achieved through cardiovascular activities, such as jogging, jumping rope, swimming and bicycling. It enables athletes to play without running out of breath - or steam, said Dr. John F. Duff in his 1992 book ``Youth Sports Injuries.''
Strong muscles and bones, produced by lifting weights, allow athletes to perform consistently at high levels.
Flexible muscles, tendons and joints - achieved through stretching, warmups and cool-downs - are less vulnerable to tears.
``Conditioning is the most important single key to injury prevention in young people's sports,'' said Duff.
But conditioning didn't save Daryl Walton, starting quarterback for Western Branch High School, in this season's opener against Norcom.
Only a few plays into the game, Walton caught his foot on the playing field as he was making a cut.
Pop, pop, pop.
His right knee bent outward, and Daryl plunged to the ground.
Whisked away to the locker room for evaluation by a Western Branch athletic trainer, Walton was later treated at a nearby emergency room.
A few days ago, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, a test for damaged tissue, revealed torn ligaments. Walton said he'll need surgery to repair the anterior cruciate ligament, a common knee injury in contact sports.
Walton, a senior, doesn't know if or when he'll return to football. He believes his habit of year-round weight training will help him recover more quickly.
``But,'' he said, ``my season is over.'' MEMO: [For a related article: WHAT PARENTS CAN DO, see page C9.] ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photos]
HUY NGUYEN
The Virginian-Pilot
Lake Taylor wrester Paul Jiminez was sidelined last season with a
dislocated left elbow. He has been lifting weights to regain his
strength.
Daryl Walton, Western Branch's starting quarterback, tore ligaments
in his right knee in the season opener and will miss the rest of the
season.
GRAPHIC
The Virginian-Pilot
[Appears on page C9]
FALL SPORTS INJURIES
Among high school students nationwide
FOOTBALL
Most common injuries: hip/leg/thigh (17.3 percent);
forearm/wrist/hand (15 percent); knee (14.5 percent); ankle/foot
(14.2 percent); head/neck/spine (14.3 percent). General trauma -
including bumps, bruises, cuts, bursitis, muscle cramps and spasms -
accounts for 28.2 percent of injuries, and sprains for 28 percent.
Best prevention: Intentional spearing of opponents should be
discouraged. Strengthening and conditioning, including exercises to
strengthen the neck, allowing players to keep their heads erect
while blocking or tackling.
BASKETBALL
Most common injuries among boys: ankle/foot (38.3 percent);
hip/thigh/leg (14.7 percent); face/scalp (12.2 percent);
forearm/wrist/hand (11.5 percent); knee (10.3). Sprains make up 44.6
percent of injures, general trauma for 26.5 percent, and strains for
13.3 percent. Overuse injuries include jumper's knee.
Most common injuries among girls: ankle/foot (36 percent);
hip/thigh/leg (16.6 percent); knee (13 percent); forearm/wrist/hand
(11.2 percent); face/scalp (8.8 percent). Sprains account for 44.2
percent of injuries, general trauma for 19.6 percent, and strains
for 16.2 percent. Overuse injuries include jumper's knee.
Best prevention: Focus on conditioning exercises for the total
body, including upper and lower extremeties, as well as warm-ups and
stretching prior to play. Properly fitted footwear that is replaced
when worn, to maximize shock absorption.
WRESTLING
Most common injuries: shoulder/arm (16 percent);
forearm/wrist/hand (16 percent; trunk (16 percent). Sprains make up
30 percent of injuires, and bumps and bruises 28 percent.
Best prevention: Proper strength-training and conditioning. Wear
protective head gear and knee pads. Body composition and weight loss
should be closely monitored. Wrestlers with open wounds or broken
skin should be discouraged from participating until the skin is
healed.
VOLLEYBALL
Most common injuries: ankle/foot (35.6 percent). Sprains account
for 48.6 percent of injuries. Overuse injuries include jumper's knee
and shin splints.
Best prevention: Strength training emphasizing legs, back and
shoulder/rotator cuff. Warm-up and stretching before play.
Pre-season strengthening. Proper shoes and knee pads for shock
absorption.
FIELD HOCKEY
Most common injuries: hip/thigh/leg (22.4 percent); ankle/foot
(21.9 percent). General trauma makes up 40.8 percent of injuries.
Best prevention: conditioning and stretching; enforcement of the
rules; good equipment, including mouth guards and shin pads.
CROSS-COUNTRY
Most common injuries: knee (42 percent); leg (28 percent); foot
(20 percent).
Best prevention: Warm-ups, cool-downs and proper stretching.
Conditioning programs focusing on muscular strength, endurance and
flexibility. Year-round cardiovascular endurance.
SOURCE: National Athletic Trainers Associaion and ``Youth Sports
Injuires'' by Dr. John F. Duff (MacMillan, 1992).
KEYWORDS: SPORTS MEDICINE SPORTS INJURIES by CNB