Most athletes/players, especially the younger ones, are pretty limber. Many play multiple sports and are constantly active from the time they wake until the time they go to bed.
My daughter was one of those younger players once. She stretched just enough as many do at that age. As her coach, I constantly got on her to stretch properly (as I did with all of my players) but to no avail. As the years passed, I kept reminding her to make sure to stretch properly however the stridence with which I admonished her became less and less.
Last year, her Sophomore year playing college ball, once again she stretched poorly. In an early Winter batting practice, she felt a twinge in her back while swinging. Being a catcher, she thought nothing of it because she would get the same twinge every now and then in a game but it never affected her. This one was different.
The following day, she was in serious pain. She went to the trainer for treatment but over the course of the next several days, worsened. It got the point where her legs were numb. She continued to go to the trainer for treatment but told neither us, the coach or her trainer about the numbness.
The following weekend, She could not get out of bed that Saturday morning. Finally, with the help of her roommate, she made it to the trainer who sent her immediately to the Emergency room. They took X-rays, found nothing wrong and sent her on her way with an anti-inflammatory and pain relievers.
The following Monday, they had to take her out of class on a stretcher because she was paralyzed from the waist down.
They sent her to a different hospital and after a week of tests, it was determined she pulled her lower back muscles so severely that they contracted. They contracted to the point of not only compressing a disc enough to impinge on her spinal cord, but to cause bleeding in the spinal channel. Thankfully, the bleeding stopped on it's own and her body absorbed it otherwise, left unchecked, it would have required surgery and possibly caused a spinal stroke...either one could have ended in permanent paralysis.
It took a week of tests and 3 weeks in an in-patient physical rehab hospital to get her to walk again. It took an additional 7 weeks of out-patient therapy to be able to start leading a normal life once again. She was finally able to swing a bat a full 4 months after the incident. Needless to say, She had to red-shirt for the year and medically withdraw from college for the year.
She is fine now. She's back at school and playing once again although she has to do both specific stretches as well as back exercises every morning upon waking up. If she doesn't, there is a very real possibility that the next time it happens, and she was guaranteed it will without doing them daily, she could end up permanently paralyzed from the waist down.
All of this could have been avoided had she stretched properly to begin with instead of the habitual half-a$$ing of it like she did for many years before. Now she has to do triple the work if she wants to continue to play and lead a normal life.
My daughter was one of those younger players once. She stretched just enough as many do at that age. As her coach, I constantly got on her to stretch properly (as I did with all of my players) but to no avail. As the years passed, I kept reminding her to make sure to stretch properly however the stridence with which I admonished her became less and less.
Last year, her Sophomore year playing college ball, once again she stretched poorly. In an early Winter batting practice, she felt a twinge in her back while swinging. Being a catcher, she thought nothing of it because she would get the same twinge every now and then in a game but it never affected her. This one was different.
The following day, she was in serious pain. She went to the trainer for treatment but over the course of the next several days, worsened. It got the point where her legs were numb. She continued to go to the trainer for treatment but told neither us, the coach or her trainer about the numbness.
The following weekend, She could not get out of bed that Saturday morning. Finally, with the help of her roommate, she made it to the trainer who sent her immediately to the Emergency room. They took X-rays, found nothing wrong and sent her on her way with an anti-inflammatory and pain relievers.
The following Monday, they had to take her out of class on a stretcher because she was paralyzed from the waist down.
They sent her to a different hospital and after a week of tests, it was determined she pulled her lower back muscles so severely that they contracted. They contracted to the point of not only compressing a disc enough to impinge on her spinal cord, but to cause bleeding in the spinal channel. Thankfully, the bleeding stopped on it's own and her body absorbed it otherwise, left unchecked, it would have required surgery and possibly caused a spinal stroke...either one could have ended in permanent paralysis.
It took a week of tests and 3 weeks in an in-patient physical rehab hospital to get her to walk again. It took an additional 7 weeks of out-patient therapy to be able to start leading a normal life once again. She was finally able to swing a bat a full 4 months after the incident. Needless to say, She had to red-shirt for the year and medically withdraw from college for the year.
She is fine now. She's back at school and playing once again although she has to do both specific stretches as well as back exercises every morning upon waking up. If she doesn't, there is a very real possibility that the next time it happens, and she was guaranteed it will without doing them daily, she could end up permanently paralyzed from the waist down.
All of this could have been avoided had she stretched properly to begin with instead of the habitual half-a$$ing of it like she did for many years before. Now she has to do triple the work if she wants to continue to play and lead a normal life.
