Eastern medicine available for injured athletes

Athletes injured during the games will have something available to them they've never had before at the Olympics. The Beijing Organizing Committee will offer athletes both Western and Eastern treatments for injuries.

To show the difference we talked with two Utah doctors. One doctor will be the chief medical officer during the Paralympics just after these Olympic Games; the other is a specialist in Chinese remedies. Remedies you may not be familiar like acupuncture.

These needles can be as fine as a piece of human hair. "They are really, really thin, says licensed acupuncturist Sharon Peeler, "Much smaller then what we use for an injection or to draw blood."

Peeler believes the Olympics athletes can benefit from Chinese remedies.

She says, "If you have someone playing baseball or tennis, and they pull a ligament in their shoulder and they have to go on right then, there aren't a lot of things that I know of that can help you right away. And acupuncture can work in that way."

The theory behind being poked with these needles is that it gets your chi flowing. "It's basically affecting the energy of our bodies," says Licensed Acupuncturist Sharon Francel.

And though it might make you squeamish there is really little to no pain. One patient described it as relaxing and soothing.

Dr. Stuart Willick from the University Orthopedic Center says, "It's been shown Eastern-style treatments, such as acupuncture, have been shown to help a lot of conditions and it's certainly a safe treatment."

Dr. Willick has worked in the past three Olympics Games, and will be the chief medical officer for the International Paralympics Committee.

"We're going to be trying to maximize the health and safety of the Paralympic athletes, who are extraordinary athletes ... competing at the highest level in international disabled sports,' Willick says.

The Western treatments he'll be overseeing and consulting on during the Paralympics games.

"It is not entirely clear which are the best treatments in some cases," Willick says, "It will be the choice of the athlete or patient which kind of medicine to take."

And many choose something called cupping. "What I do is put a flame underneath it so it creates a vacuum, and I put it right on the body," says Peeler. "The part of my skin that's in there is warm, and it feels nice and tight."

It's another way the Chinese relieve pain, tension and get the blood flowing. It is usually done on the back.

Peeler says she's glad the Beijing Organizing Committee is offering Eastern treatments to the athletes. She hopes by doing that more people will be willing to try it.

And Willick says he thinks it's a good thing too. He also says athletes don't have to choose one or the other. They can undergo both types of treatment simultaneously.

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