With the Paris Paralympics currently on all eyes are on athletes who are sweating it out there, doing their best to bring laurels to their respective countries. And like others, even disabled athletes understand the substantial risk of injuries they face.
However, according to experts, the overall injury rates in para-sport seem to be high and comparable with rates in able-bodied athletes. Athletes perceive that the intensity of para-sports has increased in recent years, increasing the demands of their bodies. “Many paralympic athletes have long-standing and non-modifiable impairments, sometimes combined with complex medical issues, which could lead to injuries not encountered in sports for able-bodied athletes,” Dr. Tvisha Parekh, Sports Medicine, Sir HN Reliance Hospital, told Times Now.
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Studies have reviewed that over half of the injuries to the athletes who were blind were to the lower extremities. Injuries to athletes with cerebral palsy were evenly distributed between the knee, shoulder, forearm, wrist, and leg areas. It demonstrates that instances of injuries among athletes with a disability were nearly equal when compared to athletes without a disability.
According to Dr. Parekh, permanent impairments like muscle spasticity, vision impairment, altered biomechanics, different body movements, and intellectual impairment influence and exacerbate the occurrence of injuries. For example, athletes with vision impairment often have more problems related to collisions and falls. Wheelchair athletes would have severe shoulder pain related to too demanding wheelchair driving both in daily life and in sports. “Disabled athletes themselves perceive that as compared to able-bodied athletes, life becomes more difficult, tasks in daily life consume more energy and that it is extremely impractical to have a permanent disability in addition to sports injury,” she said.
For wheelchair-bound sportspersons with physical impairments, household tasks, and transportation are also more demanding.
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How do para-athletes manage their injuries?
Overall, like in able-bodied athletes, disabled athletes can suffer from any type of injury, and the basic injury management of the injury would be targeted. However, with the various types of disabilities like amputees, blindness, intellectual impairment, etc. the management of the concomitant issues with injuries with every athlete is different depending upon their additional limitations. “Their ongoing medications are also taken into account during management,” said Dr. Parekh.
And so, it is important to understand the conditions vital to the proper prevention, care, and return to activity for these athletes.
Dr. Parekh said that athletes with disabilities undergo medical considerations like screening and prevention which are very important parts of sports medicine. Pre-participation exams are present for athletes without disabilities, but this option is not as readily available for the abled-bodied athletes’ counterparts.