Episodes of Injuries and Frequent Usage of Traditional Chinese Medicine for Taiwanese Elite Wrestling Athletes

Abstract

Wrestling normally places extreme demands on the body and thus may cause various kinds of injuries. An in-depth understanding of the episodes of injured sites, types, timings, and treatment modalities would help participants be aware of wrestling-related injury occurrences so as to develop effective preventive measures. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the gender-specific injuries among elite wrestling athletes. Subjects were selected from the 2009 Taiwanese National Wrestling Sport Championship. Participants were adolescent wrestling athletes, ages 16–18, who must have received at least one bronze medal at national level tournaments in 2008. A total of 118 respondents, 96 males and 22 females, completed and returned the questionnaire in which demographic data and information about the types, sites, and timings of injuries suffered and treatment modalities adopted were elicited. The data were analyzed with independent t-tests. The questionnaire results revealed a significantly higher injury rate for males than for females. The top three injured sites for males were waist (11.1%), ankle joint (10.1%) and finger (9.6%); while for females were ankle joint (13.6%), knee (12.5%) and waist (11.3%). Contusions were the most frequent type of injury: for males (73.5%) and for females (70.6%); followed by tendon inflammation for males (10.7%) and accumulated injuries for females (15.2%). During training and matching periods, the frequency of injuries for males (69.0%) is lower than that for females (81.8%). Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) with acupuncture and moxibustion was the most common treatment modalities used for males (51.8%) and for females (68.0%); followed by orthopedics: for males (29.5%) and for females (18.0%). The present study contributed as the first effort to reveal the potency of using TCM with acupuncture and moxibustion in wrestling competitions. To prevent possible brain and body injuries in wrestling, safety education, skills and rules, and scoring systems may require further revision. Increased training of wrestling health professionals and advanced research and development of auxiliary training devices and protective equipment for wrestling athletes are also recommended.