PITTSBURGH — Steelers star T.J. Watt, one of many highest-paid edge rushers within the NFL and the 2021 AP Defensive Participant of the 12 months, suffered {a partially} collapsed lung throughout a Wednesday dry needling therapy on the staff facility, prompting questions concerning the occasions that led to the incident and what’s going to occur subsequent.
J.J. Watt, T.J.’s brother, stated in a social media assertion Friday that T.J. had surgical procedure Thursday to restore and stabilize his lung and was launched from the hospital Friday.
“Yesterday TJ had profitable surgical procedure to stabilize and restore {a partially} collapsed lung suffered Wednesday after a dry needling therapy session on the facility,” J.J. Watt wrote on social media. “Restoration timeline remains to be TBD, however all went effectively and he’s being launched from the hospital in the present day. He and his household are very appreciative of everybody’s form phrases and effectively needs.”
T.J. Watt, 31, is not going to play in Monday’s dwelling prime-time matchup in opposition to the Miami Dolphins (8:15 ET, ESPN), Steelers coach Mike Tomlin stated, as Pittsburgh seeks to bolster its AFC North lead over the Baltimore Ravens.
The Steelers have not supplied many particulars surrounding the incident. The preliminary assertion launched by Pittsburgh spokesperson Burt Lauten on Thursday stated Watt went to the hospital for additional analysis of his lung after experiencing “discomfort” on the observe facility Wednesday. After Friday’s observe, Tomlin stated Watt had a “medical process in the present day or yesterday.” And when requested if the incident that led to Watt’s hospitalization occurred throughout a dry needling session, as J.J. Watt stated, Tomlin continued to be obscure.
“I haven’t got a variety of data, so I am definitely not going to dispute one thing that is stated by somebody near him,” Tomlin stated. “I hadn’t had discussions alongside these traces.”
The NFL Gamers Affiliation is conscious of the scenario and has been in contact with Watt and his illustration. “Our primary fast precedence is supporting T.J.’s well being and full restoration,” the NFLPA stated in an announcement.
Dry needling is not uncommon throughout an NFL participant’s bodily remedy, however a big incident like that is unusual.
Did Watt have an damage earlier than the therapy? What’s dry needling? Is Watt’s scenario much like then-Chargers quarterback Tyrod Taylor’s scenario in 2020, when he suffered a punctured lung? How will Pittsburgh’s protection step up because the staff chases a divisional title? Steelers reporter Brooke Pryor and ESPN senior author and damage analyst Stephania Bell break down the most important questions.
Did Watt have a chest or again damage earlier than the dry needling?
Watt has not been listed on the staff observe or damage report this season. Tomlin additionally stated Thursday that, to his data, Watt did not have an damage that was worthy of being on an damage report or after the Steelers’ Week 14 sport.
Watt was on the observe report due to a toe damage throughout the week main as much as the sport at Baltimore, and earlier within the season, he was listed on the observe report due to a hip situation main as much as the Week 8 dwelling sport in opposition to the Inexperienced Bay Packers. Dry needling is not essentially related as a therapy for a particular damage, and it may be used to alleviate common muscle tightness, together with across the shoulders, and in some circumstances, the pectoral muscle tissue. — Pryor
What’s dry needling? What’s required to legally administer dry needling? How protected is it?
Dry needling is a talented intervention the place the supplier makes use of a skinny needle to penetrate the pores and skin with the aim of assuaging ache and bettering motion. In contrast to “moist” needling, which makes use of a hole bore needle (which has a central channel to permit liquid to cross by way of it) to inject a medicine, dry needling makes use of a strong needle and no substance is injected.
Frequent functions for dry needling embody, however aren’t restricted to, muscle ache/strains (e.g., hamstring, quad), tendinitis/tendinopathy (e.g., patellofemoral, biceps, rotator cuff), plantar fasciitis and complications. Utilization has expanded throughout the previous decade, specifically, and it isn’t unusual to see dry needling in most athletic rehabilitation settings or coaching rooms.
Necessities range by state as to who could legally carry out dry needling. The vary of practitioners partaking in dry needling could embody bodily therapists, athletic trainers, acupuncturists, chiropractors, physicians, doctor assistants, nurses and nurse practitioners.
Well being care professionals usually bear post-graduate schooling particular to dry needling procedures. The necessities range by state as to requisite hours of coaching as there is no such thing as a nationally acknowledged board that oversees dry needling certification. Applications require completion of didactic and sensible parts, and contributors should cross written and sensible exams that incorporate security parts.
Dr. Sue Falsone, president and founding father of Construction and Perform Training, is a bodily therapist, athletic coach and licensed power and conditioning specialist who has over 15 years of expertise working towards and educating dry needling. She has handled and consulted with quite a few elite athletes, together with NFL and MLB gamers, and says there are quite a few security research which were printed displaying very low danger with dry needling.
“Precautions and affected person security are all the time part of any affected person intervention,” Falsone stated, “however as with every modality, there’s a probability for an adversarial response.”
Falsone famous that the 4 commonest adversarial reactions constantly documented within the scientific literature are comparatively benign. They embody bleeding (famous as a drop or two of blood on the needle web site), localized bruising, ache or residual soreness on the needle web site and ache or soreness away from the positioning.
“Pneumothorax [punctured lung] is reported within the literature as a really uncommon occasion,” Falsone stated. — Bell
What number of different Steelers do dry needling?
It is arduous to say what number of Steelers gamers search dry needling to deal with tight muscle tissue and soreness throughout the season, however former linebacker James Harrison advised ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler in 2015 that “three to 5” different gamers within the locker room have been additionally doing dry needling.
“It is a extra invasive type of needling,” Harrison stated then. “It may be recovery-based and assist to heal any accidents which are nagging. … It is painful as hell.”
Steelers inside linebacker Patrick Queen stated Friday that he prefers to make use of acupuncture over dry needling.
“Sort of two various things,” Queen stated. “… I do not do the entire dry needle factor. I am really fearful of dry needling, so I sort of keep away from that stuff.
“It’s unlucky. You would most likely get dry needled a thousand occasions and by no means have something occur, and it simply most likely a half an inch within the flawed path. So, you by no means know.”
Queen added that he has all the time been cautious about whom he permits to make use of needles on him in therapy.
“Clearly, it is needles, then you definitely want ’em in the precise spot and stuff, and so they might go within the flawed spot at any time,” he stated. — Pryor
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T.J. Watt within the hospital for lung analysis
Ryan Clark and Wealthy Eisen react to T.J. Watt having his lung evaluated within the hospital after experiencing discomfort on the Steelers’ observe facility on Wednesday.
What must be the standard prognosis for Watt? Will there be any long-term results?
Probably the most important facet of Watt’s case is that after he reported signs and was evaluated, he was despatched to the hospital for care emergently and handled promptly by the suitable personnel. This provides him a good chance of full restoration.
Lung tissue is remarkably resilient, particularly in a younger, wholesome athlete. A lung damage like Watt’s has the potential to heal inside 7-10 days, and there must be no long-term results. — Bell
Is that this just like the Tyrod Taylor scenario? What are the variations?
Taylor was reportedly coping with two cracked ribs and obtained a pregame pain-relieving injection, the intent of which was to lower localized ache and permit him to compete on sport day. The needle punctured a lung, and the end result was a pneumothorax (the place air leaks into the house between the lung and the chest wall, placing stress on or “collapsing” the lung).
In Watt’s scenario, based on his brother JJ, he suffered {a partially} collapsed lung (additionally a pneumothorax) after a dry needling therapy session. By definition, dry needling means no medicine was being delivered through the needle, making this completely different from Taylor’s particular process.
Whereas we should not have entry to the specifics of both participant’s medical data, it’s value noting that each participant’s damage severity and restoration expertise is exclusive, even within the presence of the identical prognosis. We do know that Taylor has since gone on to return to soccer on the NFL stage and count on Watt to do the identical. — Bell
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What does Watt’s absence imply for the Steelers’ protection of their quest to win the AFC North?
There is no agency timeline on Watt’s return, and that is a big hit for a staff that has a slim lead over the Ravens for the AFC North and a coveted playoff spot with 4 video games remaining.
The Steelers are 1-11 all time, together with the playoffs, when Watt does not play. Watt final missed a sport within the 2023 playoffs, when he was sidelined due to an MCL sprain for the wild-card loss to the Buffalo Payments in January 2024.
This time with out Watt, the Steelers will depend on a rotation of Alex Highsmith, Nick Herbig and rookie Jack Sawyer. Highsmith, who has handled accidents all through this season, sealed the win in opposition to the Ravens with a walk-off sack of Lamar Jackson.
“That is a transparent illustration of who he’s, the kind of performs he gives, the kind of splash he makes, sport on the road, he’ll go make a play for us,” Herbig stated of Highsmith. “That is who Alex is. That is who he is been his complete profession.”
Herbig can be one other younger participant on the rise. The 2023 fourth-round decide recorded two sacks the final time he confronted a left-handed quarterback in Cleveland’s Dillion Gabriel; Herbig had two tackles for loss and 4 quarterback hits. Herbig faces Miami’s left-handed QB Tua Tagovailoa on Monday.
“T.J.’s accomplished a terrific job of being a pacesetter, not simply within the room, however in the entire constructing, the group,” Herbig stated. “I believe he rubs off on lots of people in the precise manner, and I am not nervous in any respect as a result of we now have nice guys, nice leaders that’ll decide up that slack, and I believe that he is ready, not simply myself, however a bunch of the youthful guys in that sense to have the ability to tackle that bigger position, not simply as a participant however as a pacesetter, and bringing that power and simply doing all the pieces that he does.” — Pryor
