Urlacher confirms he has arthritic back
Says he won't need surgery, career won't be cut short
By Vaughn McClure
Tribune staff reporter
October 28, 2007, 11:11 PM CDT
Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher has confirmed a Foxsports.com report that he has an arthritic condition in his back.
Urlacher wouldn't expand on the issue after Sunday's loss. Coach Lovie Smith denied arthritis was an issue when questioned last week about Urlacher's back.
"Brian admitted that?" Smith said Sunday. "An online report? Did he admit that to you? I'm not going to get into that. What I know is that Brian played today and was not on the injury list.
"As far as his back, again, there's nothing wrong with his back that would cause him not to be able to play."
Urlacher told the Web site he had undergone extensive tests and had even seen a specialist in Pittsburgh, but none of that determined his exact condition. He says he won't need surgery and doesn't believe it will end his career early.
Urlacher first discussed the injury in training camp, saying it had made it hard to backpedal and bend down. Two weeks ago, Urlacher looked in pain as he sat at his locker.
Dr. Bruce Livingston of Skokie has worked with many patients with arthritis in their lower backs. Livingston said the proper term is degenerative joint disease, or osteoarthritis.
"The ideal approach to this is to identify the cause of the problem and tell the player to keep from playing football," Livingston said. "But that's not going to happen in most cases.
"Once you've got arthritis, you've got it. You just want to keep it from progressing. There are drugs that can keep the inflammation down, such as medicinal steroids. But no drug can cancel being smashed by 250-, 300-pound guys. You have to do therapy — stretching, massages, adjustments — all the things that will help you cope with it."
Livingston said it could take two to six years for arthritis to really take effect.
Urlacher played through the pain Sunday and ended up with only four tackles. He played one his best games of the season last week against the Eagles, leading the team with 13 tackles.
FULL STORY
Urlacher confirms he has arthritic back on ChicagoSports.com
Urlacher confirms he has arthritic back
Urlacher confirms he has arthritic back
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