Traumatic Encephalopathy Case Study

Professional, collegiate, and elite athletes are frequently at a high risk for injury while competing. Many athletes experience an injury at one time or another, which tends to linger long after their career as an athlete is over. Others who are more fortunate may suffer from chronic pain that is simply due to wear and tear on their body over a significant period of time. To provide a better description about what athletes experience after their career is over, Hurley (2014) examined the personal narratives of former professional rugby players who suffered career-ending injuries.
The rugby players competed at the national and/or international levels at some point during their careers (Hurley, 2014). The interviews were structured to address athletes’

psychological reactions to injury and their experience with the retirement process. The results indicated that the participants expressed concerns about how their injury would continue to affect them in their daily lives. One athlete asked himself, “will I be able to run again or can I just walk like walk down the street?” (Hurley, 2014, p. 25). Another athlete reported it was physically difficult for him to get out of bed (Hurley, 2014). While Hurley’s (2014) results provided evidence about the rigors athletes can experience physically after retirement, Long (2015) discussed how doctors approach treatment with players, during their career, specifically in the National Football League (NFL).
With the emergence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in recent years, along with numerous lawsuits for neglecting of players’ injuries, the NFL has become much more persistent and careful about identifying and treating injuries (Long, 2015).

However, Long (2015) argued that the newfound persistence is to satisfy the media and the public, as the approach to treatment has not changed within the locker room. Specifically, a future hall of fame player stated that team doctors handed out opioids “like candy” (Long, 2015; p. 129). In addition, Long (2015) stated that one former player shared that he was using pain killers and alcohol to cope with his pain. Long (2015) subsequently discussed a survey whereby all NFL players were asked to rate their feelings about allowing medical marijuana use for pain management, and two thirds of the players believed that it would significantly reduce opioid use and addiction. The NFL has been subjected to copious amounts of scrutiny by the NFL players’ association and media for its willingness to treat pain with opioids. Therefore, Long (2015) argued that it is time for the NFL to reconsider its ban on marijuana as a treatment option for the players’

pain.
Implications/Conclusions
Although numerous studies have suggested that marijuana can be effective in treating chronic pain, it remains a banned substance in all sport organizations in the U.S., despite being safer and as effective as opioids (in most cases). Therefore, as many professional, elite, and collegiate athletes are likely to experience some form of chronic pain, as a result of their playing career, it likely they will be using some form of pain management intervention for a significant portion of their lives. As one player stated in Long’s (2015) article, he was combining opioids with alcohol to cope with his pain during his career, which is a potentially lethal combination. Vigil et al. (2017) demonstrated that most individuals who began utilizing medical marijuana for chronic pain treatment significantly cut down on the amount of opioids they took. In addition, Vigil et al. (2017) found that cannabis reduced participants’ pain, improved their quality of life, social interactions, and increased their activity levels. Therefore, removing marijuana from its banned substances list the NFL and other major sport organizations could provide a safer and potentially more effective option for players’ pain treatment.