I could just fancy some cheese Gromit. What do you say?

I’m partial to some, now let’s be honest most cheeses yet I’ve never thought about using gorgonzola or perhaps a nice ripe brie to heal an injury. You haven’t either I hear you say? Well it seems some people have. Lindsey Vonn is the most successful American Alpine woman skier in history and was due to excel at the recent Winter Olympics in Canada following her successes at three consecutive overall World Cup Championships (2008, 2009, and 2010).

However just prior to the Winter Olympics, Vonn revealed that she was suffering from periosteal bruising (bruised bone) to her tibia. The solution was not horse’s placenta which is a favourite amongst Premiership football players of late, but Topfen, a soft, tangy Austrian cheese that has a similar consistency to cottage cheese. I was never partial to cottage cheese. So in addition to more conventional treatments like Laser, painkillers, and stretching   apparently Vonn had her shin regularly covered in Topfen to help reduce the inflammation.

Whilst many in the sports medicine community have been quick to distance themselves from cheesegate (although they were strangely quiet over the horse placenta issue), and dairy scientists have held forth over the healing properties of cheese, it is easy to see why Vonn opted for the fromage. Athletes will try anything to get fit again – especially in the build up to a major tournament. Vonn was in training in Austria when she sustained the injury and it is not uncommon to treat injuries with a poultice in Austria.

Did it work? Almost certainly not but you can’t underestimate the power of placebo. Vonn was helped by the unseasonable warm weather that delayed the alpine events in Canada, but out of the five medals that she was chasing she managed a gold, a bronze and a fractured finger. For Vonn it was a disappointment and inevitably it was the cheese that made the headlines.

So is David Beckham sitting at home with his Achilles tendon covered in dairylea triangles? No, but don’t bet that he’s not trying something. 

www.fitforsportclinic.com 

End of the Line

You don’t hear about career ending injuries so much anymore thanks to the medical advances that have been made over the years and the ready availability of horse placenta… Well perhaps not the horse placenta – or maybe there’s something I’m missing here? More about horse placenta another time.

West Ham and England striker Dean Ashton has recently announced his retirement from football at just 26 having failed to recover from a chronic ankle injury. Ashton originally broke his left ankle in 2006 during an England training session (following a heavy challenge from Shaun Wright-Phillips) and subsequently missed the entire 2006/7 season.

He returned to play 35 games in 2007/8 and made his England debut under Fabio Capello, however in training for the new season in September 2008 he sustained a further ankle injury that has led to his recent retirement. Ashton underwent 5 operations in a bid to prolong his career and is still unable to walk properly despite extensive rehabilitation and independent medical advice. We wish Ashton all the best for the future.

Rumors in the press over recent days have suggested that Ashton may be looking to take legal action against Wright-Phillips for ending his career. Unfortunately the precedent for legal action of this type is already there. Most recently it was seen in the case of the Manchester United player Ben Colett who was awarded £4.3 million following a career ending challenge from Middlesbrough's Gary Smith despite not being a first team player.

What I found unsettling about all this is that it has filtered down to the ambulance chasers (did someone say no win no fee?) who actively advertise on their sites about how dangerous sport is and how you can claim for an injury you have received. Not good.

www.fitforsportclinic.com