Being an athlete is a goal that many aspire to. Up and coming athletes train their whole lives to achieve Olympic and professional sports glory, and it serves to give them athletic and physical prowess that few people achieve. However, this glory comes with a number of costs as well. Athletes experience a number of physical health problems that a high impact profession creates. Professional sports is one of the most physically dangerous and grueling professions a person can hold.
Firstly, the potential for physical injury in professional sports is much higher than in almost all other professions. An athlete’s body is their livelihood and their instrument, and they put it through the ringer to achieve their professional goals. Athletes are prone to chronic physical pain in their backs, joints, necks and extremities due to overuse injury, and in the case of traumatic accidents, they may suffer permanent physical damage to their bodies. There is even a mortality rate in professional sports that exceeds almost all other professions.
Another major health concern to athletes is what aging does to them professionally. In other worldly professions, one can remain active well into their golden years, but professional athletes peak in their thirties and have to start thinking about retirement shortly after. Once a person ages into their forties, their body begins to decline and cannot perform physically like it used to. This creates very particular healthcare necessities for athletes.
In order to properly care for their bodies, athletes need to have access to the best in medical treatment. There will be unavoidable wear and tear as well as injury to an athlete’s body, and physical therapy, internal medicine and chiropractic services are a necessity. In Canada, the socialized medical system is one of the best in the world and provides Canadian athletes with proficient medical treatment. Whether its a physical therapist in Calgary, a chiropractor in Kelowna or a physician in Vancouver that is needed, provincial health insurance will see that it is provided.