Pain development and analgesia in athletes with ankle joints and ligaments injury

The pain feeling in athletes results from nociceptive and antinociceptive systems activity. Mostly pain follows injuries. Ankle joints and ligaments injury is one of the most often trauma. Pain intensity directly depends on the number of injured structures and the degree of the injury. Besides that pain intensity depends upon various factors such as gender and age. The history of injuries can increase the risk of repeated injuries and pain may become chronic. Psycho-emotional experiences during the competition can lead to pain without physical injuries. Anesthesia is important aspect in athletes’ life and it must be effective. Not all currently available medication are approved by the World Anti-Doping Agency. Every year “WADA Prohibited List” is reviewed and every athlete must follow it. The permitted and most effective methods of pain relief for joints and ligaments injury are cooling aerosols, non-steroidal anti-infl ammatory drugs and kinesio taping. Each of these methods has its own characteristics.