Today’s guest article is by Professor Brian Rothbart, previously at the University of Washington School of Medicine, and a sports medicine doctor and professional sports team physician.

Dr. Rothbart writes:

The Houston Rockets’ Yao Ming is basketball’s most important global player since Michael Jordan.  He’s the reason that China has become enamored with the NBA and why American players were treated like rock stars in the Beijing Olympics.  However, there’s a crack (figuratively and literally) in this perfect picture.

Why?  There’s a hairline fracture in Ming’s left foot.  The Center underwent an innovative and complicated surgical procedure to repair the fracture.  The Rockets hope this will strengthen the base of support for his 7-foot, 6-inch frame and will help him withstand the unprecedented pounding his body takes every time he’s on the basketball court.

Unfortunately, the Houston team privately expresses grave doubts that Ming will ever be sturdy enough again to play professional basketball.

What do I, as a sport medicine doctor, think about this story?

First, I never recommend reparative surgery on joints (including those in the feet) if the underlying cause of the chronic pain is not known or addressed.  In my book Forever Free From Chronic Pain, I explain that if surgery is done when the source of the pain is not known, a patient undergoes a highly invasive procedure that does not address the source of the problem.  It will be painful, costly and potentially dangerous.  After the surgery, the chronic pain usually returns or becomes worse.

Although I haven’t examined Ming myself, I’ve watched videos and studied many photographs of the basketball player.  I believe that the underlying cause that led to his debilitating foot injury is Primus Metatarsus Supinatus (Rothbarts) Foot.  Unfortunately, the Houston Rockets’ management may be unaware of Ming’s foot structure and the impact it has on his skeletal framework.

Unless the underlying problem is addressed, I doubt that Ming will ever recover from his foot surgery.  He will join a long list of elite professional players whose careers have been cut short or severely compromised by problematic foot structures they were born with:  Bill Walton, Micky Mantle and Tiger Woods, just to name a few.

Let’s hope that Ming will prove to be the exception and that he’ll overcome the destructive forces his feet endure.  But hope may not be enough.  Without addressing his apparent Rothbarts Foot, one of the greatest players in NBA’s history will abruptly and prematurely leave the sport in his prime.  What a needless shame that will be!

You can read about my research and therapy at my patient website, Freedom From Chronic Pain, and read more about my book, Forever Free From Chronic Pain.

Thanks to Dr. Rothbart for his insights into sports injuries.