Abstract
While the majority of sports medicine literature discusses the incidence and
rehabilitation of sports injuries, there is a paucity regarding an
athlete’s perception of pain during these injuries. This study
describes the relationship between the perception of pain from injuries in a
Taekwondo collegiate conference and injury characteristics such as injury
type, location, mechanism, time loss, and the athlete’s competitive
experience. In our study, we obtained reports from 62 Taekwondo athletes who
were injured during the 2008–2009 Pacific West Taekwondo Conference
collegiate season. Pain was recorded using the Numeric Rating Scale for Pain
during athletes’ acute injury and at two weeks, six weeks, and
subsequent monthly follow-ups. Pain scores were highest for
sprain/strains (mean 5.4, standard error 0.47) and injuries to the
lower body (mean 5.6, standard error 0.36). By mechanism, falls (mean 5.8,
standard error 0.67) reported the highest levels of pain. There was a
significant positive association between pain and time loss, where an
increase in pain score of 1 point was associated with about 0.85 days
(standard error 0.37) of time lost from training (p=0.0284).
Notably, head injuries, although potentially more devastating and attracting
widespread concern, were considered less painful.
Key words
Sports Injury Rates - Acute Pain - Martial Arts - Return to Play
