News — mma

Get Back on the Mat   I have a slipped disk. The doctor said I have lumbago. I’ve got sciatica. My back went out.   Chances are you or someone you know has uttered these common phrases before. Low back pain is one of the most common complaints of American adults over the age of eighteen. It is one of the most frequent reasons for doctor’s visits and is one of the leading causes for missed work in the U.S. In 2010, the estimated direct cost for treatment of low back pain was fifty billion dollars....

I Might Have a Concussion, But at Least I Don't Have a Concussion     Photo Courtesy of MMAFighting.com   Sports related head injuries are in the spotlight like never before. Once confined to discussions about the dangers of boxing, concussions are now part of the daily discourse when examining their prevalence in all contact sports, including football, hockey and even sports entertainment, like professional wrestling. Tragically, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, has been implicated in the deaths of prominent athletes Junior Seau and WWE wrestler Chris Benoit. Mixed Martial Arts practitioners and promoters have long...

Anatomy of a Calf Strain       Neither weekend warriors nor professional mixed martial artists are immune to a calf injury. Whether it’s due to the unstable surface of a training mat, or the repetitive explosive motions performed during a fight, all who train and compete are more vulnerable to sitting on the sidelines without the proper preventative measures. To better understand the nature of a calf strain, let’s look more closely at the anatomy.   The calf is actually composed of a number of muscles, but the largest and most visible are the gastrocnemius (commonly referred...

Preventing Rotator Cuff Injuries   Photo courtesy of http://www.healingartsce.com/massagerotatorcuff.html   During his artful domination of Glover Teixeira at UFC 172, Jon “Bones” Jones made effective use of an improvised crank while battling in the clinch. The hold put extreme pressure on the challenger’s shoulder and severely limited his offensive capabilities for the remainder of the fight. Teixeira’s trainers reported that the injury will necessitate an MRI due to likely damage to the rotator cuff and the surrounding ligaments.      With each passing month, the awareness of the sports of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Kickboxing and Mixed Martial Arts continues...

There are only a few certainties in life:  Death, Taxes, and Injuries in Combat Sports.  If you train, you will get injured at some point.  Hopefully, it's nothing major, but you're bound to tweak something from time to time.  However, knowledge and a little prevention may help keep you off the sidelines and on the mat.  We have decided to start a monthly Injury Prevention Blog written by our friend John Vercher.  John is a writer and physical therapist with over ten years of sports medicine and orthopedics experience.  He has competed as an amateur in kickboxing and MMA and...