The bottom line here is that, while pro fishing is a major sport, it lacks one thing all other major sports have: trainers and medical staff able to deliver immediate care and advice. There hasn't even been a major study of the toll pro fishing takes on the human body and what can be done to prevent injury.
"You're out there 14 hours a day, sometimes all week long, and you make so many casts, and use your arm so many times," said Brewer. "You see a lot of guys out there wearing braces on their elbows, but like in baseball, you have to do exercises for the elbow. I think if more guys did that, it would help prevent a lot of injuries.
"The one thing that really gets me," added Brewer, "is my lower back. You stand on your feet 12, 13 and 14 hours a day, every day, all week long, so you've really got to have a strong core for that not to hurt. Guys like John Crews and Mike Iaconelli work out during the off-season to strengthen their core, and I think that's a real smart thing to do."
Athletes of all kinds often push themselves too much during competition--in other words, play with pain--but the cumulative micro-trauma through the years escalates. As a result, injuries then can happen while doing something simple, like loading tackle into a truck or strapping down a boat.
For example, Chad Grigsby had fished hard for a week, then was on his way home when he decided to stop at a buddy's house. A 70-pound bow was there, and like all outdoorsmen, Grigsby felt the need to draw the bow. In the process, he tore a muscle in his shoulder and had to complete a rehab program.
In most cases, victims of fishing injuries are those who compete in tournaments, but recreational anglers also pay a price for enjoying their favorite sport.
As more injuries occurred, Peoples was forced to swap competitive angling for slower-paced recreational angling. Additional injuries made him have to slow down even more. After elbow surgery, arm surgery, multiple hand and back surgeries, knee surgery, plantar fasciitis, and foot surgery, he didn't have any other choice. While not all of these could be tied directly to his fishing, Peoples felt sure that fishing played a major role in all of them.
Was reading a related article by outdoor columnist Bobby Peoples the other day in which he noted that many bodily injuries to both recreational and competitive anglers don't show up for years. He was in his early 20s when he began serious competitive fishing for largemouth bass, but it was 20 years later before he was diagnosed with his first serious problem: tennis elbow.
Said Peoples in a February 2020 account, "My elbow was swollen to the size of a large orange, and the injury required me to stop fishing for a few weeks. During that time, I had cortisone injections, fluid removal, and took medications to relieve the pain."
His most recent encounter was a left-thumb problem that resulted in a visit to an orthopedic doctor and eventual surgery. The doctor asked him what type of repetitive things he had done with his left thumb, because the thumb joint was completely worn out. As Peoples explained, he had for years held his rod and reel in his left hand and thumbed the spool and put pressure on that joint. Whether holding the reel, casting, thumbing the line, or pulling in a fish, he had been applying pressure to that joint.
The surgery required removing a bone from his thumb, taking a ligament from his arm, and putting it in place of the bone that was removed. He subsequently had to wear a cast for six weeks, and once the cast was removed, take physical therapy.
"Many anglers don't realize until it's too late that they need to take care of their fishing bodies," said Peoples. "That means exercising and understanding the physics of repetitive casting and other related fishing activities. While repetitive casting accounts for most hand, arm, elbow, and shoulder injuries, standing up in the front of a bass boat for several hours can cause many back, leg, knee, and foot problems.
"A boat ride in even mild wave turbulence can put pressure on your back," he continued. "I recently tried to determine how many miles I had driven my boats over the years but finally gave up. It's safe to say, though, it's hundreds, if not thousands, of miles over 40 years of fishing. Riding in a boat definitely can contribute to back problems."
Most anglers think very little about personal injury to their body until an injury has occurred. Even then, most of them just shrug off the pain until it gets to the point where they have to visit a doctor. Ice, heat and over-the-counter inflammatory creams and pills may help for a while. On the other hand, you may never suffer an injury that requires surgery. If that's the case, count yourself lucky.
The No. 1 thing that can be done to help avoid injury is exercise. Most anglers, however, don't participate in any because if they're not working, they usually are fishing.
And, yes, there's no doubt that young anglers in their 20s, 30s or 40s scoff at any discussion like this one. They say to themselves, "I'm healthy as can be and don't have a single problem." As in the words of that old Western swing standard, though, "Time changes everything."
No comments:
Post a Comment