Desire, drive, determination and drugs can all help collegiate athletes push themselves to play hard.
Strict NCAA regulations forbid performance-enhancing drugs, but prescription painkillers and cortisone shots are commonly used to help injured athletes forget their pain and focus on their performance.
Many athletes’ competitive natures compel them to continue playing despite injuries, and cortisone shots and prescription painkillers are often the only way to numb the pain so the athlete can perform.
“I played an entire season hurt,” Mississippi State University tennis player Luiz Carvalho said. “I would never again take very strong drugs that fool the pain. These drugs make you feel all right, but the truth is your injury is getting worse and worse.”
After playing hurt for four months, Carvalho gave in and agreed to have surgery. “I had no more energy to study or do anything,” he said. “And then it was when I thought that I needed a break.”
Carvalho had never taken more than a three-week break from tennis since he was 11 years old. Carvalho said he had experienced shoulder pain for years, but his love of tennis compelled him to ignore the pain and continue playing.
Like Carvalho, some seriously injured athletes can temporarily avoid having surgery, but medication is often necessary to help the athlete play through the season. Although painkillers and anti-inflammatory medications can help an athlete, they can be harmful in excess.
Often, athletes are not allowed to take their own prescription medicine home with them. The athletic trainer must keep and dispense it as required.
According to MSU graduate assistant and certified athletic trainer Jamie Furlong, “It’s easy to get addicted to pain medication. It covers up other pains, so by taking it athletes can ignore other injuries.”
Matthew Verret, an MSU graduate assistant and certified athletic trainer, previously worked for a professional football team, and he said he has seen situations where athletes became addicted to prescription drugs.
“Some professional athletes have tackle boxes full of drugs they take to make it through competition,” Verret said. “Sometimes it gets to the point where they can’t get out of bed without getting their fix. I’ve seen it firsthand.”
As a result, Verret said he does not force athletes to take prescription painkillers or anti-inflammatories.
“I might offer them a Tylenol to take the edge off, but I’m not going to offer them narcotics like morphine,” Verret said.
Some athletes may depend on drugs to perform, but there are others who dislike taking medicine before games or practices. MSU softball player Courtney Frank has spent countless hours in the training room nursing injuries, and although she said she gets frustrated, she does not rely on drugs to take the pain away.
“It was obvious my body needed a break,” Frank said. “I don’t like taking meds that ‘block’ pain, because usually it takes away from the healing process.”
MSU softball player Brooke Best also said she does not like taking drugs, but she does push herself to play injured.
“I’m stubborn, so if there’s a chance I could play, I probably would,” she said. “But I wouldn’t want everyone to be like that, because in a way it’s stupid. It usually hurts you more in the long run if you do play injured.”
Although athletes can play through pain with or without drugs, their performance still suffers due to their injury.
“Playing hurt requires you to focus much more because instead of thinking about what should be your strategy on the court, you are thinking how could you make it hurt less,” Carvalho said. “When you play hurt you just don’t give 100 percent physically, but you also aren’t 100 percent mentally.”
Prescription medications and shots can take the pain away so the athlete can improve the mental aspect of their game. Still, the decision to play injured and whether to take painkillers is a complicated one.
Many athletes and coaches believe in “no pain, no gain” and that “whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” Furlong and Verret said that the decision to let an injured athlete play is ultimately up to the doctor, and the athletic trainer’s opinion is secondary to the doctor’s.
“If it’s something where the pain is tolerable and no structural damage will be done, then play through it,” Verret said. “It shows toughness on the part of the athlete.”
Coaches also exert a strong influence over deciding whether an injured athlete should play. Some coaches question the athletic trainers’ authority and push athletes to play immediately following an injury, without a doctor’s blessing.
“It’s a coach’s nature to want to win, and when their team is hurt, it’s against their capability to win,” Furlong explained. “They’re going to question any decision you make to hold an athlete out of competition.”
Verret echoed these sentiments. “They [coaches] have questioned me, but I’m the one who’s qualified and trained to take care of athletic injuries. I have to trust myself not to bend or break,” he said. “I won’t try to be a coach as long as they won’t try to be an athletic trainer.”
Even if a coach’s inclination for an injured athlete to play may not influence the athletic trainer’s judgment, the coach’s desire can still affect the athlete’s attitude. Frank said that her coaches’ wishes played a part her decision to play injured. “Coaches’ expectations are a huge influence in playing while injured,” she said. “I don’t always agree but I comply.”
Many coaches are much more careful about allowing athletes to play injured. Most coaches were once athletes themselves, so they can empathize with injured players. MSU assistant volleyball coach John Blackwell said that as long as they have the doctor’s and athletic trainer’s approval, it is up to the athletes to decide if they are capable of playing. He said his role as a coach is not to diagnose injuries.
“When it comes to injuries, everybody has to know their role,” Blackwell said. “I’m not in the medical field.”
Carvalho said he has been lucky to have coaches that have never pressured him to play hurt. “My coach told me I could do whatever I wanted,” Verret said. “If I wanted to have surgery and miss the entire season, that would be fine.”
Brandi Watkins, a softball player at Mississippi University for Women, said there is a fine line between pushing yourself and hurting yourself, and athletes need to figure out for themselves when they are about to cross this line. “As an athlete you have to know the injuries that you can play through, but you also have to respect those that are serious enough to sit you out for awhile,” Watkins said.
Blackwell agreed that athletes know their body best and should recognize when they are too hurt to play. “Athletes have to learn the difference between pain and discomfort,” Blackwell said.
Being injured and determining whether an injury is serious enough to sideline the athlete can cause stress and anxiety, but injuries can also profoundly affect athletes and change their perspective on athletics.
Dr. Barry Goldberg, director of sports medicine at Yale University, said in the Yale Herald Online: “Learning how to deal with hardship in an area of importance to your life, such as athletics, is no different from the painter who can’t get a painting right, or a writer who can’t get a novel correct. Sometimes backing up for a while and taking a break is helpful. The athletic field is a microcosm of society–things don’t always turn out well.”
When athletes take a break due to injury, they are forced to look at athletics from a different perspective. If an athlete lacks competitive drive and passion for their sport, they will not want to spend countless hours in rehab and may end up quitting. Injured athletes may also realize that they once took their health for granted, or they may think about how much they truly love their sport.
“I always think that things happen for a reason, so I just try to figure out what God’s trying to tell me,” Best said.
Carvalho said that it was hard to be away from tennis for four months, but it was also very beneficial. “This made me think and now I know how much I love to play tennis,” Carvalho said. “I used to complain about stupid things in practice, but now that I miss it so much I see how idiotic I was.”
Former MSU basketball player and current MSU softball player Meagan O’Nan also realized that she often took for granted her athletic experiences. “My injuries have made me appreciate the time I have as a college athlete,” O’Nan said. “They have taught me patience. I believe it all has made me stronger.”
When Frank injured her ankle and had to take a step back from arduous practices, she realized that although athletics have taught her many things, sports are not that important in the scope of things.
“Life is more than ‘the game,'” Frank said. “Your body is worth a lifetime, more than four years of contributing to a college.”