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How to Identify if You Have Sports-Related Back Pain
Listen to Justin Tortolani, M.D. discuss some of the major causes of spinal damage in sports.
Featured Speaker:
Certified by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery, Dr. Tortolani is widely recognized for his research contributions to the advancement of spinal surgery, at a national level. His research has been published extensively in numerous professional publications and journals throughout his career.
Dr. Tortolani earned his medical degree at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York, then completed an internship in general surgery and a residency program in orthopaedic surgery at Johns Hopkins. His training concluded with a orthopaedic surgery fellowship at the Emory University Spine Center in Atlanta.
P. Justin Tortolani, MD
P. Justin Tortolani, M.D. is a leading spine surgeon at University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center, and part of the University of Maryland Spine Network.Certified by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery, Dr. Tortolani is widely recognized for his research contributions to the advancement of spinal surgery, at a national level. His research has been published extensively in numerous professional publications and journals throughout his career.
Dr. Tortolani earned his medical degree at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York, then completed an internship in general surgery and a residency program in orthopaedic surgery at Johns Hopkins. His training concluded with a orthopaedic surgery fellowship at the Emory University Spine Center in Atlanta.
Transcription:
How to Identify if You Have Sports-Related Back Pain
Caitlin Whyte (Host): Welcome to Live Greater, a health and wellness podcast brought to you by the University of Maryland Medical System. We put knowledge and care within reach, so you have everything you need to live your life to the fullest. This episode is sponsored by the University of Maryland Spine Network. Connected by the renowned University of Maryland School of Medicine, the UM Spine Network is home to the state's leading spine experts. With convenient locations throughout the state, UM Spine Network physicians collaborate to create comprehensive care plans for patients across the full spectrum of care. When you work with a UM Spine Network physician, you can expect to receive the high quality evidence-based care that you deserve.
Today, we are talking about some of the major causes of spinal damage in sports with Dr. Justin Tortolani, an Orthopedic and Spine Surgeon at the University of Maryland Medical System. So, as we begin here, Doctor, what sport has the most spinal injuries?
P. Justin Tortolani, MD (Guest): Football for males and gymnastics for females.
Host: And what are some causes of spinal damage in sports in general?
Dr. Tortolani: Yeah. So, usually they fall into two broad categories. It's either going to be a bone injury to the bony elements, so the vertebra, or it's going to be an injury to a disc. Of those two broad categories. The most common injury to the bone is a stress fracture. And the most common injury to the disc is a disc herniation.
Host: So, how can an athlete identify if they have a sports related back pain?
Dr. Tortolani: Usually they can identify a specific thing that happened. You know, a mechanism of injury, we call that, where let's say it's a baseball player and they swing and then immediately have a low back pain or, or radiating leg pain, more, or the same thing in the neck. You know, you know, you can picture a volleyball player, rearing up to do a hard spike and you know, their head is extended and you immediately have neck pain or nerve pain down an arm. So, usually we pick it up because there's a specific activity or moment where the athlete felt pain.
Host: So, you feel this pain, but when should you reach out to a doctor for help?
Dr. Tortolani: So, if the pain is confined to like the neck or the back, and it goes away in three to four days, we usually think that's just a muscle strain, muscle injury. They're very common and usually don't require medical expertise. If the pain lasts more than three to four days, or the pain is radiating into an arm or a leg, or if there is associated neurologic symptoms like numbness, tingling, weakness, then those would be times to report it to a doctor.
Host: When we're looking at the back, what areas of the spine are most commonly injured when it comes to sports injuries?
Dr. Tortolani: Usually it's going to be the lower lumbar area or the cervical area, the neck region. In the lower lumbar area, it's usually the L4 or L5, which are the two lowest vertebra and in the neck it's usually the C5 or C6, sometimes C7 vertebrae or discs in between those vertebrae.
Host: So, we've been hurt once, but looking towards the future, how can we prevent getting injured again, playing sports?
Dr. Tortolani: Usually we get people, number one, to understand what caused it. I think understanding why or how it happened is really important for a patient and the athlete and that's step one in prevention. And then number two is physical therapy, which is not just the rehab to get them over the injury, but education. So, some of it is using good techniques with their sports, whether it's appropriate running technique or swinging technique in any swinging sport or using ergonomics when they're not play, you know, sitting in appropriate posture, using lumbar support if you're sitting in a desk for a long period, you know. We have a lot of adult athletes that are working full time. And so we're trying to teach them just good body mechanics to reduce recurrent injuries. And in the low back, one of the most important things is core strength or abdominal muscle strength. And a lot of people don't really even associate their abdomen with their back, but we know that core abdominal strength is really important to prevent low back injuries.
Host: Is there anything you'd like to add when it comes to sports related injuries and how we can avoid them?
Dr. Tortolani: The most important thing, especially in our athletic youth and adolescent population is to avoid overuse. And these days with a greater and greater emphasis on sports specialization, early in life, we tend to see overuse injuries because people tend to be playing the same sport year round, rather than different sports, which is how it was historically up until maybe the last 10, 15 years or so. And so I think an emphasis on rest from a single sport, having at least one day of rest while competing, and then being mindful of the number of repetitions in any specific sport.
Host: Well, thank you for joining us today, Doctor, we appreciate your time and insight. Find more shows just like this one at umms.org/podcast. And thank you for listening to Live Greater, a health and wellness podcast brought to you by the University of Maryland Medical System. We look forward to you joining us again.
How to Identify if You Have Sports-Related Back Pain
Caitlin Whyte (Host): Welcome to Live Greater, a health and wellness podcast brought to you by the University of Maryland Medical System. We put knowledge and care within reach, so you have everything you need to live your life to the fullest. This episode is sponsored by the University of Maryland Spine Network. Connected by the renowned University of Maryland School of Medicine, the UM Spine Network is home to the state's leading spine experts. With convenient locations throughout the state, UM Spine Network physicians collaborate to create comprehensive care plans for patients across the full spectrum of care. When you work with a UM Spine Network physician, you can expect to receive the high quality evidence-based care that you deserve.
Today, we are talking about some of the major causes of spinal damage in sports with Dr. Justin Tortolani, an Orthopedic and Spine Surgeon at the University of Maryland Medical System. So, as we begin here, Doctor, what sport has the most spinal injuries?
P. Justin Tortolani, MD (Guest): Football for males and gymnastics for females.
Host: And what are some causes of spinal damage in sports in general?
Dr. Tortolani: Yeah. So, usually they fall into two broad categories. It's either going to be a bone injury to the bony elements, so the vertebra, or it's going to be an injury to a disc. Of those two broad categories. The most common injury to the bone is a stress fracture. And the most common injury to the disc is a disc herniation.
Host: So, how can an athlete identify if they have a sports related back pain?
Dr. Tortolani: Usually they can identify a specific thing that happened. You know, a mechanism of injury, we call that, where let's say it's a baseball player and they swing and then immediately have a low back pain or, or radiating leg pain, more, or the same thing in the neck. You know, you know, you can picture a volleyball player, rearing up to do a hard spike and you know, their head is extended and you immediately have neck pain or nerve pain down an arm. So, usually we pick it up because there's a specific activity or moment where the athlete felt pain.
Host: So, you feel this pain, but when should you reach out to a doctor for help?
Dr. Tortolani: So, if the pain is confined to like the neck or the back, and it goes away in three to four days, we usually think that's just a muscle strain, muscle injury. They're very common and usually don't require medical expertise. If the pain lasts more than three to four days, or the pain is radiating into an arm or a leg, or if there is associated neurologic symptoms like numbness, tingling, weakness, then those would be times to report it to a doctor.
Host: When we're looking at the back, what areas of the spine are most commonly injured when it comes to sports injuries?
Dr. Tortolani: Usually it's going to be the lower lumbar area or the cervical area, the neck region. In the lower lumbar area, it's usually the L4 or L5, which are the two lowest vertebra and in the neck it's usually the C5 or C6, sometimes C7 vertebrae or discs in between those vertebrae.
Host: So, we've been hurt once, but looking towards the future, how can we prevent getting injured again, playing sports?
Dr. Tortolani: Usually we get people, number one, to understand what caused it. I think understanding why or how it happened is really important for a patient and the athlete and that's step one in prevention. And then number two is physical therapy, which is not just the rehab to get them over the injury, but education. So, some of it is using good techniques with their sports, whether it's appropriate running technique or swinging technique in any swinging sport or using ergonomics when they're not play, you know, sitting in appropriate posture, using lumbar support if you're sitting in a desk for a long period, you know. We have a lot of adult athletes that are working full time. And so we're trying to teach them just good body mechanics to reduce recurrent injuries. And in the low back, one of the most important things is core strength or abdominal muscle strength. And a lot of people don't really even associate their abdomen with their back, but we know that core abdominal strength is really important to prevent low back injuries.
Host: Is there anything you'd like to add when it comes to sports related injuries and how we can avoid them?
Dr. Tortolani: The most important thing, especially in our athletic youth and adolescent population is to avoid overuse. And these days with a greater and greater emphasis on sports specialization, early in life, we tend to see overuse injuries because people tend to be playing the same sport year round, rather than different sports, which is how it was historically up until maybe the last 10, 15 years or so. And so I think an emphasis on rest from a single sport, having at least one day of rest while competing, and then being mindful of the number of repetitions in any specific sport.
Host: Well, thank you for joining us today, Doctor, we appreciate your time and insight. Find more shows just like this one at umms.org/podcast. And thank you for listening to Live Greater, a health and wellness podcast brought to you by the University of Maryland Medical System. We look forward to you joining us again.