This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Pike, E. C. J. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

‘Doctors Just Say "Rest and Take Ibuprofen"’

A Critical Examination of the Role of ‘Non-Orthodox’ Health Care in Women’s Sport

University of Chichester, UK, e.pike{at}ucc.ac.uk

While sociologists have confirmed that athletes normalize illness and injury, there remains limited research into the practices of sports medicine. A two-year ethnographic study of female rowers shows that medical support for these athletes was both insufficient and inadequate. The rowers experienced a lack of medical care, and several had stories to tell of incompetent diagnoses and over-reliance on drug prescription. Many of the women turned to non-orthodox health care, which has been considered more ‘feminine’ than orthodox practices, and also empowering in terms of the active involvement of the client in the treatment process. This article critically evaluates the extent to which non-orthodox care is an authentic ‘alternative’ to traditional medical approaches, and the contention that such treatment facilitates the continued presentation of self as both ‘athlete’ and ‘female’ at a time when these identities are challenged by the injury or illness experience.

Key Words: non-orthodox health care • symbolic interaction • women’s rowing

International Review for the Sociology of Sport, Vol. 40, No. 2, 201-219 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/1012690205057199


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?