1 out 4 retired Olympians suffer from this ailment

By Alice Clifford via SWNS

A quarter of retired Olympians suffer from osteoarthritis, a new study revealed.

After getting sports-related injuries during their career, elite athletes are more likely to develop osteoarthritis than someone sustaining a similar injury in the general population.

The physical side of their career puts them at a much larger risk of developing lower back pain, shoulder osteoarthritis after a shoulder injury, as well as knee and hip osteoarthritis.

The study revealed that knee, lumbar spine and shoulder were the most injury prone areas for Olympians.

These were also among the most common locations for osteoarthritis and pain, scientists said.

Osteoarthritis causes changes in the joint and can lead to discomfort, pain and disability.

The researchers surveyed 3,357 retired Olympians across 57 different summer and winter sports, including athletics, rowing and skiing.

The athletes, who were aged around 45, were asked about their injuries, and the health of their bones, joints, muscles, and spine.

They were also asked if they were currently experiencing joint pain, and whether they had an osteoarthritis diagnosis.

They also surveyed 1,735 people aged around 41 from the general population to compare results.

The researchers used statistical models to compare the pain experienced by retired Olympians and the general population.

During the study they considered factors that could influence the risk of pain and osteoarthritis such as injury, recurrent injury, age, sex and obesity.

While elite athletes were more at risk of developing joint pain, both Olympians and the general population had an increased risk of shoulder, knee, hip and ankle and upper and lower spine pain after injury.

Dr. Debbie Palmer, from the University of Edinburgh’s Moray House School of Education and Sport, and author of the study, said: “High performance sport is associated with an increased risk of sport-related injury and there is emerging evidence suggesting retired elite athletes have high rates of post-traumatic osteoarthritis.

“This study provides new evidence for specific factors associated with pain and osteoarthritis in retired elite athletes across the knee, hip, ankle, lumbar and cervical spine, and shoulder, and identifies differences in their occurrence that are specific to Olympians.”

The research team hopes these findings will help develop new approaches in injury prevention to support athletes now and in retirement.

They can be used to help people make decisions about recovery and rehabilitation from injuries in order to prevent recurrences.

The study was published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.