By Jeffrey A. Ross,
Associate Clinical Professor,
Imagine you are a runner, and you have been experiencing shin splints during your training for a marathon. You know what it feels like. A sharp gnawing pain along the tibia, and extending along the posterior tibial tendon, and the inside of the ankle. Sometimes it hurts even when you are not running. Only rest, ice, and biomechnical correction seems to help calm the area down.
Now imagine you are skiing and you fall with your body moving forward over the top of your boots. Imagine the stress to the tibia as you fall and land over your skis. I know this feeling because it happened to me when I was much younger ski racer back in my native
Even with a deep muscle bruise, the injury could have caused a compartment syndrome. Fortunately, it did not. But now imagine every time Vonn leans forward and her shin pushes and rubs against the boot, she will probably experience pain. And with high speeds, and holding the skiers edge, she's bound to place incredible g-force against that boot. Obviously, she will be performing with some pain. But with physical therapy, icing and topical pain and anesthetics she should be able to compete. The question will be at what level can she compete? Olympics skiers compete at such a high level that thinking about the pain, or altering your leg to avoid the rub against the boot, can cost thousandths of a second. That can make the difference between a gold medal and an also-ran.
Hopefully Vonn can grin and bear it and still come out on top. She's a fierce competitor with a previous elbow injury, and still competed in the World Cup. I think she will be the heroine of the Vancouver Olympics.
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