Former NHL players open up about the danger of pain medications

In a recent interview, several former NHL players discussed a lot of the issues regarding pain medications.

Hockey is a sport known for its toughness. NHL players go through so much as they try to win the Stanley Cup and extend their careers. To help ease the pain, they often turn to pain killers and other pain medications.

In a recent TSN segment entitled “The Problem Of Pain”, several former NHL players, including Ryan Kesler of the Anaheim Ducks, discussed the dangerous side effects of pain medications.

Kyle Quincey of the Detroit Red Wings was one of those players as well. When asked if teams told him about the potential side effects of certain pain medications, he said he was never told about any of them. “No one is telling us what [these pills] do.”

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Both Quincey and Kesler echoed the same thought – there is no education about the overuse of medications such as toradol, which is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug. Opioids used to be the common treatment until 2011, when several players died due to their addiction to them. This forced the NHL’s hand and they started heavily restricting them.

Kesler hasn’t played in the NHL since March of 2019 thanks to chronic hip problems and a variety of other ailments, including Crohn’s Disease and colitis, which doctors say he got because of his long-term use of toradol, which has yet to be approved for long-term use. Experts say it shouldn’t be used for longer than five days.

“I never wanted to hurt the team, so I knew I had to play. To play, you have to take painkillers,” Kesler said.

Colitis causes ulcers in your digestive tract. It’s as painful as it sounds.

Kesler also said he was never informed about the potential long-term side effects of toradol and other pain medications. “I never knew what it could do to me. Or the side effects. I feel like if I can talk about the dangers about it, it’ll help everybody.”

Players are encouraged to play through immense pain. They are rewarded when they “tough it out”. But often times, nobody thinks about the long-term effects of “toughing it out”. The teams know the potential dangers and from what players like Quincey and Kesler are saying, it sounds like the teams aren’t properly educating their players.

This culture of pain is cemented in hockey. Recently, the NHL tweeted out a video of players blocking shots and being in immense pain. After backlash, they decided to delete the tweet. But the message was sent – players are expected to play through pain.

“As a hockey player, you are tough,” said Quincey. “Nobody can play in the league and not be tough. From the youngest age, you’ve been taught to play through things and to miss a game, you’d have to be really debilitated.”

The difference between toughness and recklessness is a very fine line. That line needs to be more clearly defined and teams must start educating players about pain medications. The league should probably step in and do something about this culture of pain because it’s ruining lives. It’s ruined both Quincey and Kesler, and there are surely more names. Even if it was just Quincey and Kesler, two lives are two too many.