SKIP THE SURGERY TOO:

Fear, researchers are finding, plays an enormous role in an athlete's recovery. In fact, it can determine whether or not an athlete ever makes a full recovery--and that fact is often overlooked, says Dr. Aaron Gray, a physician for athletes at the University of Missouri. Some athletes, he says, "almost have post-traumatic stress back to" the moment they got injured.

Addressing the fear, alongside the physical injuries, is critical for recovery, a recent study published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine found.

The study's authors looked at a set of patients recovering from ACL reconstruction. Over the course of the patients' recovery, the intensity of their knee pain was measured, along with the strength of the muscles around the knee, the knee's functional range of movement, and the patient's level of physical activity. Researchers also measured levels of kinesiophobia--pain-related fear of movement. Among the study participants, the most common reason for not having a full recovery was fear of getting hurt again. These athletes didn't have higher levels of pain than other people in the study; they were just scared.

"Our results indicate physical impairments may contribute to initial functional deficits, whereas psychological factors may contribute to longer term functional deficits in patients who report fear of reinjury or lack of confidence as a barrier to sports participation," wrote the study's authors.

Follow @brothersjudd