March is National Athletic Training Month and CHRISTUS Health is recognizing it by highlighting its athletic trainers and the outstanding work they do.
According to the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, athletic training includes the prevention, examination, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of emergent, acute or chronic injuries and medical conditions.
“When an athlete has an injury, I am basically their first responder,” said CHRISTUS Health athletic trainer Christian Campbell, who is assigned to Loyola College Prep in Shreveport. “I do an initial assessment of the injury and determine the severity of it.”
Campbell said it can sometimes be unclear as to what an athletic trainer’s job entails.
“A lot of people ask me about bench pressing and squats and how to lose weight. They don’t realize I’m actually trained in some light orthopedics and general first-aid and life-saving skills,” he said. “That’s more of my job. Yes, there is a little component of exercise to it but I’m more into the injuries and trying to help heal someone.”
During his time as an athletic trainer at Loyola College Prep, Campbell has assisted numerous athletes who have sustained injuries.
Campbell has known student Ethan Varnadore since he was a freshman. Varnadore is now a junior and has had three injuries and three surgeries during his time on the school’s basketball team.
“I’ve torn my meniscus three times, twice in my left leg and once in my right leg, during my freshman year, sophomore year and junior year,” Varnadore said. “Each time, Chris has been there, if not that night, the next day, ready to look at me and tell me what to do.”
Campbell said after each injury, Varnadore complained of swelling and pain in his leg.
“I asked him what was going on and how he thought he hurt it and we went through an evaluation,” Campbell said. “At that point, it was determined there was something going on inside his knee with the meniscus.”
During Varnadore’s first two injuries, he was out for the rest of the season. Each surgery has involved the use of a scope, known as arthroscopic surgery. He received physical therapy at CHRISTUS Outpatient Therapy Clinic in Shreveport and finished in January.
“It’s all been smoothly done and there have been no real issues,” he said. “They’ve got me back each time and that’s all I can ask for.”
Campbell said the number of meniscus and knee injuries he sees each season varies.
“It can change from season to season, and this season I have seen three meniscus injuries like that,” he said. “The meniscus involves a less invasive surgery because it is arthroscopic surgery and you can rebound a little quicker from it than, say, an ACL, which is the big ligament in the knee.”
Varnadore said,“Christian has been there my whole time at Loyola. He pretty much helped me get set up with all the doctors and physical therapy that I needed and got me in the door quicker.”
To learn more about CHRISTUS Health’s athletic training program, visit our website CHRISTUSHealth.org.
