How the Chargers can help prevent future injuries
Injury after injury and year after year I hear the same thing from Chargers fans say the same thing “fire the strength and conditioning coaches”! Well its football and sometimes shit happens. I mean every team goes through this. Well not nearly as often at the same rate as the Chargers seem to endure. I mean a lot of these injuries are freak accidents and or injuries that are really impossible to predict in order to prevent. However there are alternative new age ways to prevent these injuries that the team and most NFL teams have yet to adopt into their facilities. I mean the days of having a full time drunk as the team doctor drinking all day every day and misdiagnosing players are long gone (cough cough DR. Choa). It’s time for these teams to start moving into the new age and provide on site treatment for players more than just hot baths and messages. Here are a few ideas.
Hyperbaric Chambers:
You may remember the year Terrell Owens broke his leg in the final game of the season and still managed to play in the Super Bowl while looking fully recovered. Well how he was able to make that miracle recovery in such a short period of time was because he was using a hyperbaric chamber. What is a hyperbaric chamber and how does it work? I will allow specialist to explain as they will do a much better job than myself.
“Treatment takes place inside a specially designed inflatable chamber that uses filtered ambient (atmospheric) air with an additional oxygen concentrator to deliver oxygen to the body safely. The chamber inflates quickly and there is enough room to sit upright or to lie down comfortably. After inflation, the chamber will pressurize – a feeling similar to ascending or descending in an aircraft. During inflation and at full pressure you just breathe normally. Sessions usually last an hour, however you can use the chamber for much longer without any adverse effects. After each session you can carry on with your day as normal – there are no restrictions. Our state-of-the-art hyperbaric chamber is spacious enough to accommodate an adult and child or two children, and provide healing oxygen therapy in the most comfortable environment possible. The high level of oxygen promotes a deep sense of relaxation. Your heart rate and blood pressure will settle as the pressure increases helping you to relax. Whilst in the chamber, you can listen to your favorite music, meditate, read a book, use your mobile phone or laptop or simply relax”- P3sports.com
How it works:
“Mild hyperbaric oxygen therapy safely increases the body’s oxygen uptake by raising the barometric pressure. Under pressure, additional oxygen is dissolved into the blood plasma and increased oxygen in the plasma leads to higher amounts of oxygen being delivered to the body’s tissues, organs and brain. The pressure, combined with ambient air purified to 89-93% oxygen delivered by an oxygen concentrator, forces the oxygen to dissolve into the body’s fluids and travel to areas of the body otherwise difficult to reach. The dissolved oxygen saturates the plasma, the lymph, the synovial (joint) fluid and the cerebrospinal fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord.
Mild Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is a safe, drug- free therapy that can be used regularly without any danger of oxygen toxicity in the body. The use of a hyperbaric chamber provides up to 300% more oxygen saturation, allowing wounds to heal faster, swelling to be reduced much more quickly, restoration or increased blood flow to injured areas accelerating healing, aiding in detoxification and promoting general wellness. It also aids in the treatment of chronic disease while maximizing other modalities. Furthermore, bacteria, viruses, pathogens and yeast cannot survive in an oxygen enriched environment and the pressurized environment of the mild hyperbaric chamber facilitates recovery much more quickly from surgery or injury.” –P3sports.com
The benefits:
Delivers oxygen to tissues up to 25 times normal levels
Stimulates the production of body stem cells
Boosts immune system function
Decreases swelling and inflammation
Helps the body to clear toxins and increases the body’s ability to fight infection
Promotes regeneration of injured tissues
Reduces fatigue from chronic inadequate oxygen supply to the cells and tissues of the body
Reduces jet lag related fatigue symptoms
Decreases ligament and tissue healing time
Successfully treats traumatic and ischemic brain injuries
These Chambers can cost anywhere from 5,000-20,000 dollars. If I owned an NFL team I would have 4-5 of these on my facility at one time where players could rotate using them or even come in early or stay after practices for treatment.
Cryotheropy:
Many athletes for the last century have been using ice baths and while that is effective, a Cryotheropy chamber is not only faster it also works better. When your skin becomes wet in an ice bath your body is fighting the cold overexposure.
How it works:
It’s basically a coffin that you stand up in with nothing but your head exposed. Liquid nitrogen then shoots out cold air at about -200 degrees. The good thing about these chambers is that they only require a short amount of time for them to be effective, usually 2-4 minutes. Unlike an ice bath your body is only feeling cold air rather than becoming wet and submersed. This leads to the body producing cold shock proteins that it would normally never produce otherwise. It’s quick its easy and even if you only invested in 1 or 2 of these for a team facility a large amount of players could use it daily due to the small time frame needed for use.
The benefits:
Relieves muscle pain
Reduces body inflammation
Reduces nerve damage
Helps soft tissue recover faster
Reduces migraines or headaches
Helps with arthritic pain
Promotes healthy skin
Improves mood disorders
These are all methods that should be looked at. The owners need to look at these options as an investment in player health and injury prevention. The healthier your team is the more competitive your team is. The more competitive your team is on a regular basis the more money and recognition that comes in.
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