Some sports -- such as hockey and football -- are contact sports. They encourage rough physical contact between competitors. Wrestling, by contrast, is a combat sport. In combat sports, two athletes use their physical strength directly against each other, attempting to force the other into a scoring position. Dings and injuries are unavoidable in combat sports, and dings to the neck are especially common.
Causes
Most neck soreness comes from simple overexertion of the muscles on your neck. In a wrestling match, you can expect to have your neck pulled on, pushed, used as a lever and occasionally squeezed from two or more sides. This leads to simple muscle strain, pulls and sprains. A good coach drills his wrestlers on exercises to strengthen their neck, but the neck isn't always be able to keep up with the demands the sport places on it.
Immediate Treatment
If your neck is sore after a match, the sooner you get ice on it the better. Much of the pain and stiffness from a minor neck injury comes from inflammation, a process that relies on rapid blood flow to the injured area. Ice constricts your blood vessels and slows down blood flow, thus slowing or reversing inflammation. Your coach or athletic trainer should have ice or a chemical cold pack available at an instant's notice.
Long-term Treatment
A sore neck from overexertion, pulls or minor sprains can last for days or weeks after your match. Regular ice and anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen can help ease the pain and reduce the amount of time you spend healing.
Major Injuries
Although rare, major neck trauma does happen on wrestling mats every year. If your neck pain feels sharp or like a throbbing ache, or is accompanied by shooting pains, numbness or tingling, see a doctor immediately. If possible, avoid moving until you get checked out by a medical professional. Moving a badly injured neck can cause further damage, leading to possible paralysis and death.
Common-Sense Caution
Neck injuries are serious business. Although most wrestlers experience neck soreness enough to be casual about it, always err on the side of caution with anything that feels out of the ordinary. When in doubt, check with your doctor.
Prevention
A strong neck is the best defense against neck injuries from wrestling. During practice, work hard on neck training drills such as bridges and nelson drills. Even though these are some of the least pleasant training methods, they can be among the most important.
References
- "Coaching Wrestling Successfully"; Dan Gable; 1999
- "The Sports Injury Handbook"; Christer Rolf; 2010
