17 Feb Olympic Athlete Withdraws from Winter Games with Severe Back Pain
The 2014 Winter Olympics are currently going on in Sochi, Russia and are being watched by millions of people around the world. Olympic athletes are considered to be the some of the best in the world by constantly training, perfecting, and pushing their bodies for the chance to win an Olympic Medal. Of course, competing comes with the price of injury to the body.
Injuries during the Winter Olympics commonly include treating fractures, lacerations, head injuries, torn ligaments, and various other pain conditions. Already during these Olympic Games, we have seen famous Russian skater, Evgeni Plushenko, withdraw from the competition after continually suffering from long-term back pain. The 31-year-old is one of the most popular and decorated athletes from Russia and is a four-time Winter Olympic medalist, winning silver in 2002 and 2010, and gold in 2006 and 2014.
Staying at the top for almost two decades has its price, though. Plushenko has had numerous surgeries including hernia surgery, knee operations, and back surgery including an artificial disc replacement. In January 2013, Plushenko underwent a successful artificial disc replacement surgery in Tel Aviv, Israel. He competed in the team skating event, but was forced to withdraw from the Games after lingering back pain and a bad landing during practice this week. After this withdrawal from Sochi, Plushenko retires as the joint most-decorated figure skater in Olympic history.
Back pain, like the type that sidelined Plushenko, is very common and affects up to 80% of Americans at some point. Back pain is pain felt in the back that usually originates from the muscles, nerves, bones, joints or other structures in the spine. Back pain may have a sudden onset or can be a chronic pain; it can be constant or intermittent, stay in one place or radiate to other areas. It may be a dull ache, or a sharp or piercing or burning sensation. The pain may radiate into the arms and hands as well as the legs or feet, and may include symptoms other than pain including tingling, weakness or numbness.
Some common back pain conditions include:
• Disc Pain
• Arthritis
• Sciatica
• Herniated Disk
• Lower Back Pain
• Coccydynia (Tail-bone Pain)
• Illiolumbar Syndrome
Don’t let back pain control your life. Medical technology and treatments have advanced to new levels that can help anyone with back pain. For more information, call Illinois Pain Institute today at 1 (800) 340-7246 or visit our contact page.