For elite athletes, pain and injury are normal. In a challenge to the orthodox medical model, this book makes it clear that pain and injury cannot be understood in terms of physiology alone, and examines the influence of social and cultural processes on how athletes experience pain and injury. It raises a series of key social and ethical questions about the culture of 'playing hurt', the role of coaches and medical staff, the deliberate infliction of pain in sport, and the use of drugs.

This book begins by providing three different perspectives on the topic of pain and injury in sport, and goes on to discuss:

* pain, injury and performance
* the deliberate infliction of pain and injury
* the management of pain and injury
* the meaning of pain and injury.