Whiplash Doesn't Throw Rodeo Cowboys

Their recovery time is half that of non-riders, study finds

TUESDAY, April 11, 2006 (HealthDay News) -- For reasons that remain unclear, rodeo cowboys recover more quickly from whiplash than other people, Canadian researchers report.

"What we found is that rodeo athletes recover faster (an average of 30 days vs. 73 days) and miss less work even though they shared the same occupation," Dr. Robert Ferrari, of the University of Alberta's department of medicine, said in a prepared statement.

His team interviewed 160 rodeo cowboys and 140 rodeo spectators about motor vehicle collisions they'd been in, the type of vehicle, injury symptoms, and the outcomes of those symptoms.

"It may be that athletes are physically more fit -- although farmers and ranchers are, as well -- or it may be that athletes have a different attitude toward injury and they think the best way to deal with it is to just keep going. It may be a coping style that most people don't possess," Ferrari said.

None of the rodeo athletes recalled their injury symptoms lasting more than 60 days, while 15 percent of the spectators said their symptoms lasted longer than 60 days. Rodeo athletes took no more than three weeks off work, while many of the spectators were away from work for more than six weeks.

The findings appear in the current issue of the Journal of Rheumatology.

"The lack of chronic problems with these athletes is a good reason to study them and understand why they don't have the same response and to see what we can learn from them," Ferrari said.

More information

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has more about traffic safety.

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