How the Chargers could better treat/prevent injury on facility

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.