Enho Returns from Spinal Cord Injury as Takakeisho Falls from Ozeki Rank Due to Chronic Neck Pain and Risks of Continuing in Active Competition

The Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament ended with Yokozuna Terunofuji’s 10th victory, his first in three tournaments after two consecutive stops,

I would like to commend him. The presence of yokozuna made the tournament more exciting.

He also praised the win.

Masayuki Yamauchi, professor emeritus at the University of Tokyo and chairman of the Yokozuna Judging Committee (Yokoshin), also praised the win despite his old knee injury and back pain,

I don’t think it was a great performance for a yokozuna with a disease. I think that was a very respectable performance.

He was a very good yokozuna. He also mentioned Kirishima, who dropped to sekiwake after a loss in the previous tournament, and ozeki Kikagatsu, who was eliminated as sekiwake after a loss in the kadoban,

I think this is a very serious matter,” he said. The ozeki rank is not something to be taken lightly. There was a time when ozeki was the highest rank, almost equivalent to yokozuna.

He expressed a harsh view of the situation, saying, “This is a very serious problem. However, Kikagatsu has been suffering from chronic neck pain, and it was said that unless he heals completely, it would be difficult for him to maintain his position as an ozeki,

The question of how to consider injuries and other incidents involving rikishi in the ring was once again raised, this time in the context of the so-called “public injury system. We need to think again, in earnest, about the issues involved in the so-called public injury system.”

He also made such comments as, “We have to think seriously about how we should think about the so-called public injury system in the ring,” which has become a hot topic whenever a rikishi is absent from the ring due to injury.

Asanoyama, a makuuchi wrestler, was absent from the fifth day of the tournament due to a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee on the fourth day of the tournament. He will be out for a long time and may not be able to return for a year. There are many comments on social networking sites such as, ‘Since he was injured in the ring, he should be recognized as publicly injured.

Speaking of injuries, there was also a lot of talk about the return of Inaho from a herniated cervical disc as well as a spinal cord injury that had left him bedridden for the first time in about 400 days. He was ranked at the lowest rank in the ranking system (ogenokuchi), but he made an impressive comeback with a 6-1 win-loss record. He is expected to return to oshichi-nidan in the next tournament. Flameho said, “I am relieved,

I am relieved. Sumo is fun. The joy of being in the ring is irreplaceable” (Sankei Sports, July 26, 2008).

However, not a few people on social networking sites expressed concern about his injury, saying, “I’m glad he’s back, but he’s risking his life if he’s come this far,” and “Take your own pace and don’t overexert yourself. In the case of Flameho, however, he has returned to the ring after suffering an injury that may prevent him from walking for the rest of his life. What do doctors think of his current situation?

He avoided surgery in order to return to the ring, and has recovered so far only through rehabilitation. Looking at his movements in the current tournament, it does not appear that his limbs are impaired, and it is thought that the hernia has disappeared and improved to a state where there is no pressure on the spinal cord, and from there, muscle strength has been strengthened appropriately. There is an image that herniation is something that cannot be cured once it occurs, but this is not the case. If we compare the intervertebral disc to an Imagawa-yaki (large pancake), a herniated disc is like anko (red bean paste) sticking out of the crust.

Anko” is a foreign substance to the human body and is known to be eaten by cells such as macrophages. By activating these cells, the “bean jam” is made to disappear. Since we are talking at the cellular level, it takes more than 3 months for the size of the hernia to actually change. However, it is possible for hernias to disappear with the passage of time,” says Dr. Yuto Ito, a sports doctor certified by the Japan Sports Association.

But what about returning to the ring?

I think the most important thing is for you, your family, your surroundings, and your association to correctly understand your current situation. In the end, I think we should respect his choice because it is his own life after understanding the situation correctly.

It is easy to imagine that the strain on his neck would be great, and even though we respect his choice, the doctors and trainers who were involved in the situation must be worried that he might re-injure himself… However, the doctors and trainers involved must be chilly…” (Dr. Ito, above)

While respecting the person’s wishes, he said that it is important for the people around him, including the doctors, to understand the situation. However, it is also true that there is still a strong tone of opinion in the sumo world that “gut feeling” and “more practice will cure the disease” or “if you step on the stool and do teppo thoroughly, you will not get injured. Dr. Ito suggests the following.

Sports medicine has advanced over the past few decades, and cooperation between doctors, physical therapists, trainers, and the field has improved. I would like to see the sumo world become a better place by integrating our knowledge and experience, rather than saying, ‘You don’t have enough guts,’ ‘You don’t train hard enough,’ or ‘Your current muscle training is wrong. Sumo may be considered a culture distinct from the sports world, but if that is the case, I would like to see more effort put into human resource development, such as in our own ranks or from rikishi to become doctors or trainers as a second career after retirement,” said Dr. Ito.

What fans want is for their favorite rikishi to always show strong efforts in the ring and remain active for a long time. To that end, I think it is time to seriously consider a review of the current system, including the revival of the “public injury system. ……