Spine Tingling Wrestling Injuries

Spinal injuries in amateur wrestling are rare, but can be serious. According to the American Journal of Sports Medicine (AJSM), 80 percent of these injuries occur during match competitions, and most often in the low- and middle-weight classes.

How It Happens

• Spine injuries commonly occur when a wrestler's arms are held in a way that prevents him from avoiding landing on his head or if, while attempting to roll, the full weight of his opponent lands on him, causing a twisting hyperflexion and neck injury.

Consequences

• In its 2002 review of catastrophic injuries in wrestling, the AJSM looked at 35 catastrophic wrestling injuries from 1981 to 1999, the researchers determined that 11 resulted in quadriplegia, six resulted in neurological deficits, one resulted in paraplegia and one resulted in death.

Treatment

• According to the Hughston Sports Medicine Foundation, an athlete with a spinal injury should avoid athletic activity. If surgery is avoided, the injured wrestler may still need to wear a back brace and undergo physical therapy.

Prevention

• Flexibility affects not only a wrestler's success, but also his ability to avoid injury. Any training routine should include stretching; a strong core and anaerobic power are key to injury prevention.

Potential

• Before joining the WWE, Kurt Angle famously trained for and won the gold in the 1996 Olympics, wrestling with a broken neck. Despite his injury, Angle found longstanding success in the very physical world of professional wrestling.