A core tenet of many exercise professionals and coaches is that people should feel better after they exercise, whether they’re just enjoying a walk in the park or playing sports. But at the crossroad where competitive sports becomes a high-stakes affair, with millions and sometimes billions of dollars on the line, playing through and living with pain is often an accepted side effect to success. Unfortunately, many who push through these pains don’t realize the dangers of Toradol, which is the drug they use to keep them going.
Many medical trainers hired by high school, college, and professional teams turn to high-risk, high-reward painkillers — most notably Toradol — to keep players on the field, even though they’ve been shown to cause long-term damage and shorten careers.
The Survival Mentality Supports Abuse
Toradol, or generically, Ketorolac Tromethamine, is a powerful pain reliever and anti-inflammatory injection that’s in rampant use in college and professional sports. While misuse can include complications such as kidney failure, liver damage, an increased risk of heart attack and stroke, and gastrointestinal bleeding, many athletes, especially football players, line up to take shots that numb pain enough to keep playing.
Some studies indicate that the predominant motivation for professional players that use drugs to stay on the field is merely their desire to keep their jobs. In fact, many players live in constant fear about someone behind them on the depth chart replacing them.
Similarly, the dream of reaching the highest level of competitive sports is a dream of countless high school athletes across the country. This dream often motivates these young amateur athletes to do whatever they can to stay on the field and prove their abilities to prospective college programs. Unfortunately, for most high school athletes, the dream of becoming a professional will always be simply a dream. According to the NCAA, out of nearly 8 million high school athletes, less than 1% become professional athletes. But, the damage done by becoming a repetitive user of pain killers can often have serious long-term repercussions.
In one study of almost 2,300 high school athletes, 10%, said they abused opioid medications.
Many Athletes Switch to Heroin
The dangers of Toradol don’t end with recovery from sports injuries. While Toradol is often used by college and professional athletes play through their pain, many high school athletes are finding their own means of coping with the pain of their sports injuries by using prescription opioids, such as Vicodin, Oxycontin, and Codeine.
In one study of almost 2,300 high school athletes, 10%, said they abused opioid medications. The use of opioid medications is addictive on its own, but also has a strong correlation to eventual heroin use as the euphoria achieved through prescription pain killers is often sought through a cheaper means that doesn’t require a prescription. Research shows that people addicted to opioid medications are almost 40 times more likely to turn to heroin, and that 80% of heroin abusers started with an addiction to painkillers.
Former Players Are Striking Back Against the Dangers of Toradol
The end of an aspiring athletic career can be bleak for many people. Often times, athletes retire young and they have spent most of their time and energy competing for precious spots at the top of their sports. Once retirement becomes a reality, these athletes cope with rebuilding a new identity on top of the physical pain that painkillers often masked.
Many athletes have turned to the court system to create awareness about the dangerous side effects of reckless distribution of painkillers by teams and to retain compensation for the long-term health issues that often results from playing through pain.
Thousands of retired athletes have turned to addiction treatment, and many of the most prominent and successful former professional players have shared their stories to help the next generation of athletes avoid abusing painkillers.
Medical experts are also entering the cause, advising strategies that can help prevent misuse that can often start at the prep level.
Preventative measures can include physicians placing greater emphasis on a student-athlete’s medical history with painkillers and introduction of legislation that can help doctors to better monitor a patient’s prescription painkiller use. This can help ensure that student-athletes aren’t taking the medications for long periods of time.
Have You Been Playing Through Pain?
Morningside Recovery helps athletes and former athletes through the process of getting off painkillers, alcohol or other drugs. Through our extensive and innovative treatment plans, we can help you cope with the issues that have led to your addiction, so that you can achieve a lifetime of sobriety. Call us at 855-631-2135 to learn more about the dangers of Toradol and Toradol recovery. Our helpline is open 24/7 and our specialists will work with you to help find a treatment plan that works.