Sports physician Wilhelm Bloch calls for more sensitivity when dealing with painkillers in top-class sports.
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“Many athletes don’t think about the benefits and risks. We have to raise awareness that long-term medication is dangerous,” said the professor from the German Sport University in Cologne.
The health consequences in particular could be devastating. “Permanent pain medication can lead to permanent changes in the body. Kidney, liver or vascular damage,” said Bloch. In addition, painkillers could affect the healing process of injuries. “The ability of the tissue to regenerate is sometimes limited,” explained the expert. He estimates that, depending on the sport and category, more than 50 percent of the participants now regularly take painkillers.
Most recently, tennis pro Rafael Nadal caused a stir at the French Open and Liverpool footballer Thiago in the Champions League final. Both athletes had pain-relieving injections in their feet. Unlike many other professionals, Nadal and Thiago were really about pain relief and not just prevention, Bloch suspected. “Nevertheless, these examples give society a false image.” (dpa)
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