Completely Numbing

In a more recent article, TMQ shines a detailed and harsh light on a subject covered in passing here on OP: pain-killing injections in football.  The introduction:

"An injured NFL player hobbles off the field to the locker room. Ten minutes later, he jogs back out, seemingly fine, and re-enters the game. Medical miracle? It's possible he was just injected with local anesthesia. Lidocaine, Procaine, Carbocaine: The numbing chemicals used by dentists and for ambulatory surgery might have been shot directly into his knee or elbow. Use of injected game-day anesthesia in football is something the NFL, and to a lesser extent the NCAA, likely would prefer the public not know about. Shooting players up with drugs so they can perform sounds a little creepy -- because it is."

How prevalent is this in college and pro sports? Interestingly, the league has very loose requirements about the administration and the reporting of pain-killing injections.  Specifically, they simply don't track them and leave it up to each team's discretion. 

The more you read about the substances, processes and frequency of these injections, the more you have to wonder how this is ANY different from steroid use.  The steroids that a lot of cyclists and other athletes used are not designed to make you bigger and stronger. They are designed to help you recover faster.  That is certainly the case when you look at 'the cream' and 'the clear', two illegal steroids that Barry Bonds allegedly used 'unknowingly.'  Both substances are designed to speed recovery. 

So why do we as a society separate pain-killing injections (an action that will absolutely speed recovery time) and the illegal drugs people say they want eliminated from the games they watch?  Do we know what kind of long-term effects these pain-killing shots will have on the well-beings of their players?  No...and we don't have to. Not as long as the gladiators are sent out to entertain us.   

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