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ther motion, at least for a while.
•  My orthopedic doctor friend loves playing a morning basketball pickup game with folks from their 20s to 70s. But over the years he has pulled tendons, torn cartilage and muscles, and twisted ankles doing it. Uncountable friends and patients, mostly men, each fall and early winter, worship walking fields of corn, shelterbelts, and sloughs in the hunt for the beguiling, wily, and obscure South Dakota pheasant. But these folks commonly come in with everything from back pain, groin tendinitis, to "pleasemakesureitisnotmyheart" chest pain. And numerous running club members compete year after year in the Brookings Marathon and other races throughout the country. But always there are runners not well enough prepared, resulting in heat injury, muscle spasms, plantar fasciitis, and more.
• To prevent injury, the CDC advises beginning with the right equipment for the specific activity; starting slow and building condition gradually; listening to your body and not overdoing it in the heat of the moment; and allowing for time to stretch, rest, and recover at the end of the event or exercise.
• Participation in sports, recreation, and exercise is to celebrate living. May we all regularly savor this celebration and do it safely.
• Dr. Rick Holm wrote this Prairie Doc Perspective for "On Call®," a weekly program where medical professionals discuss health concerns for the general public.  "On Call®" is produced by the Healing Words Foundation in association with the South Dakota State University Journalism Department. "On Call®" airs Thursdays on South Dakota Public Broadcasting-Television at 7 p.m. Central, 6 p.m. Mountain. Visit us at OnCallTelevision.com.