This past week the world of motor racing was floored when NASCAR’s biggest star, Dale Earnhardt Jr. revealed that he voluntarily sought medical attention after having headaches and ‘not feeling right’ after 2 hard crashes in 5 weeks.
As it turns out, Dale Jr suffered concussions in both accidents and as a result has been removed from his car for at least 2 races. Athletes (both professional and arm-chair) are notorious for ignoring or minimizing injuries for a variety of reasons and ‘playing through the pain’. Anything less violates the imaginary man-code of toughness that athletes and men in particular buy into.
It wasn’t surprising that Dale Jr had 2 concussions, it was very surprising that he sought medical attention, particularly when he knew the potential outcome. Being forced out of the car is every driver’s worst nightmare and most will resist with everything they have, but Dale Jr felt sufficiently concerned about his health and future to take this extraordinary step.
If you exercise or workout at all, there’s a good chance you have suffered some kind of injury from time to time ranging from a simple muscle strain to a pulled hamstring or worse. When it happens we most commonly hear something like:
“It’s no big deal – I’ll just put some ice on it”
“I’ll run it off”
“The pain’s not that bad”
Of course more often than not we don’t hear anything at all as people prefer to suffer in silence and not admit any kind of weakness or injury.
I’m using Dale Jr’s situation as an example here because pain is bad. Granted, the typical weekend warrior isn’t likely to get a concussion, but strains, pulls, and tears are very common and should not be taken lightly.
If you feel pain, it’s your body’s signal to you that something is wrong. The wise thing to do is to stop immediately and try to figure out what your body is trying to tell you. Most often the pain that starts small is a warning of more trouble to come and ‘pushing through it’ is likely to cause a much bigger problem.
Obviously we can’t all go running to the doctor every time we feel a little twinge or strain, but it’s essential that we learn how our bodies react to things and to listen when something changes or doesn’t feel right.
In Dale Jr’s press conference he mentioned that he didn’t feel right after his first accident 5 weeks ago, and then felt like something was still wrong after the second accident last weekend. In the case of concussions, the most important factor for diagnosing the problem is the individual’s own feelings and descriptions.
Learn your body. Know when something feels wrong to stop and assess the situation. If it feels bad enough, don’t be afraid to call the doctor and get checked out. There are too many times when a relatively minor situation got out of hand because someone refused to get help when the problem was small and easily treatable. Don’t let a small fixable situation turn into something that sidelines you for extended periods of time.
As it turns out, Dale Jr suffered concussions in both accidents and as a result has been removed from his car for at least 2 races. Athletes (both professional and arm-chair) are notorious for ignoring or minimizing injuries for a variety of reasons and ‘playing through the pain’. Anything less violates the imaginary man-code of toughness that athletes and men in particular buy into.
It wasn’t surprising that Dale Jr had 2 concussions, it was very surprising that he sought medical attention, particularly when he knew the potential outcome. Being forced out of the car is every driver’s worst nightmare and most will resist with everything they have, but Dale Jr felt sufficiently concerned about his health and future to take this extraordinary step.
If you exercise or workout at all, there’s a good chance you have suffered some kind of injury from time to time ranging from a simple muscle strain to a pulled hamstring or worse. When it happens we most commonly hear something like:
“It’s no big deal – I’ll just put some ice on it”
“I’ll run it off”
“The pain’s not that bad”
Of course more often than not we don’t hear anything at all as people prefer to suffer in silence and not admit any kind of weakness or injury.
I’m using Dale Jr’s situation as an example here because pain is bad. Granted, the typical weekend warrior isn’t likely to get a concussion, but strains, pulls, and tears are very common and should not be taken lightly.
If you feel pain, it’s your body’s signal to you that something is wrong. The wise thing to do is to stop immediately and try to figure out what your body is trying to tell you. Most often the pain that starts small is a warning of more trouble to come and ‘pushing through it’ is likely to cause a much bigger problem.
Obviously we can’t all go running to the doctor every time we feel a little twinge or strain, but it’s essential that we learn how our bodies react to things and to listen when something changes or doesn’t feel right.
In Dale Jr’s press conference he mentioned that he didn’t feel right after his first accident 5 weeks ago, and then felt like something was still wrong after the second accident last weekend. In the case of concussions, the most important factor for diagnosing the problem is the individual’s own feelings and descriptions.
Learn your body. Know when something feels wrong to stop and assess the situation. If it feels bad enough, don’t be afraid to call the doctor and get checked out. There are too many times when a relatively minor situation got out of hand because someone refused to get help when the problem was small and easily treatable. Don’t let a small fixable situation turn into something that sidelines you for extended periods of time.
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