It’s Day 12 of the Summer Games and wrestling is in full swing.  Today’s sport’s tip is brought to you by Dr. Robert Kelly, an orthopaedic surgeon at Resurgens Orthopaedics, and he is discussing common wrestling injuries and some prevention strategies to keep you out on the mat.

• Areas around the head are often injured, especially the ears, the tongue and the teeth. Cauliflower ear is caused by severe bruising of the ear and occasionally needs to be drained.  Over time it can be quite disfiguring.
  • Prevention:  Wearing head gear to protect the ears is the best defense.
  • Tooth and tongue injuries can be minimized by wearing a mouth guard.
• Bursitis of the knee is a localized inflammation over the knee cap area.  It is a result of direct force applied to the knee.
  • Prevention:  Wearing knee pads may be effective in preventing bursitis development.
  • Treatment: Ice, anti-inflammatory medicine and avoiding direct pressure to the knee can clear it up.
• Skin infections often plague wrestlers and their wrestling room thus infection prevention is very important. Because of the skin to skin contact infections can spread rapidly. The three most common infections in wrestlers are ringworm, herpes simplex and impetigo.
  • Prevention:  Steps to take to minimize the chance of infection are shower before and after practice, wear clean clothes at each practice and sanitize the mats after every practice.

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