[Vickie]

Julian, I have to say that there are usually three excuses against good sciene that come up with trainers in regards to cortisone use.

The first is probably good old fashioned ignorance. Most trainers, even degreed professionals, don't know enough about their business beyond their specific physical applications.

The second is that cortisone masks the pain of the injury which is the sensory input that makes the injured party take notice and take treatment. Often, truly, once the pain is gone the individual goes on with their usual activities and causes further damage. This is where good education and prescriptive exercise requires the smart injured person to comply. Unfortunately we are all so 'human' and just like to get back to life.

The third reason, and this will sound like bashing, is that trainers often want to believe that they possess the true and maybe only solution. I must say that we see this type of consciousness in many, maybe most, industries but especially in the medical field; and I do consider physical training a critical part of positive medical protocol. I don't think it's so much arrogance as it is a firm, unyielding, belief and committment to the work they are doing. The higher option, in my humble opinion, is that we marry all of these good sciences to allow for the greatest ease through the healing process.

Most of my clients come referred by orthopedics or chiropractors and we have some extremely heated conversations, friendly though they may be. In the end I think their patient / my client wind up with a well designed, and usually unconventional, approach to their successful recovery.

I am really glad you asked the question. I just answered a post from Trig and suggested that I am struggling to do some writing about fitness and want to include these types of considerations. As we 'grow up' we are all going to be facing more challenges. The better educated we become about health care protocols, beyond hearsay fears, the more elegantly we can maintain our lifestyles.

Vickie