ABSTRACT
Athletes’ usage of complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) is a common but relatively underresearched aspect of sport medicine. A recent survey of injured participants in the sport of rowing found that 59 percent of females and 10 percent of males had used CAM in the recovery from sport-related injuries. 1 The reasons identified for such high usage included dissatisfaction with more orthodox medical practices, a preference for what were perceived to be natural and holistic health care modalities, a sense of greater control over the medical encounter and a more pleasurable experience of treatment particularly for women. This is consistent with broader surveys of usage that indicate that, in the Western world, between 20 percent and 49 percent of the population report visiting CAM practitioners each year. 2 Usage is particularly high in Germany and France, where CAM modalities are mostly practiced by trained medical doctors. 3 In the US, approximately $40 million per annum is spent on CAM, with twice as many consultations made with such nonorthodox practitioners as with mainstream family doctors. 4 In the UK, where the research for this chapter is based, it is estimated that 10.6 percent of the population have used the most established forms of CAM (acupuncture, chiropractic, homeopathy, hypnotherapy, medical herbalism, osteopathy), amounting to twenty-two million visits in a year. 5
