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- $Unique_ID{BRK00262}
- $Pretitle{}
- $Title{Do Football Players Get Hurt More Often on Artificial Turf?}
- $Subject{turf toe football artificial surface Accidents accident sport injury
- injuries natural grass muscles muscle ligament tendon ligaments tendons sports
- medicine athletic injuries knee shoulder leg}
- $Volume{O-18, O-17}
- $Log{
- Muscles and Tendons of the Knee*0006201.scf
- Anatomy of the Knee*0006601.scf
- Anatomy of the Knee Ligaments*0015501.scf}
-
- Copyright (c) 1991-92,1993 Tribune Media Services, Inc.
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-
- Do Football Players Get Hurt More Often on Artificial Turf?
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-
- QUESTION: This may not exactly be in your ballpark, but I hope you know the
- answer so that we can settle a bet. I bet that football players get hurt more
- often on artificial turf. Am I correct?
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-
- ANSWER: It may not be my ballfield (what a terrible pun), but I am interested
- in sports medicine, and athletic injuries.
- Sorry, but you can't accurately settle your bet for about two years.
- According to the most recent information, the answer for now is that with the
- available data on hand at present, we really can't say yes or no for sure.
- A new National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) study found that in
- 1987 more college football injuries occurred on natural grass than on
- artificial playing fields.
- That's surprising, isn't it? Also, it is in contrast to several earlier
- surveys, including one from the NCAA, which showed that more injuries happened
- on artificial surfaces.
- Yet that year saw 171 injuries on grass and 145 on artificial turf.
- Additionally, 12 of the 16 serious knee injuries were on natural grass; as
- were 23 of 33 shoulder injuries. However, more leg injuries--15 of 23--
- happened on artificial turf. Wide receivers and running backs were hurt more
- frequently on artificial turf--40 to 22; linebackers and defensive backs more
- often on grass--61 to 35.
- The chairman of NCAA's Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical
- Aspects of Sports says that it is too early to develop any absolute
- conclusions from the study. There really is a need for more statistics to
- establish the trends and calculate the results. At least two more years are
- needed.
-
- ----------------
-
- The material contained here is "FOR INFORMATION ONLY" and should not replace
- the counsel and advice of your personal physician. Promptly consulting your
- doctor is the best path to a quick and successful resolution of any medical
- problem.
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-