Fear-avoidance, function, and infrared thermography in injured professional football players

Chronic pain is one of the most common and debilitating conditions worldwide, placing a significant burden on healthcare systems. (1) In musculoskeletal injury rehabilitation, fear-avoidance beliefs—where athletes avoid movement due to fear of pain or reinjury—are strongly associated with greater pain, reduced function, and prolonged recovery. (2) Yet, this psychosocial dimension has yet to be correlated with tissue pathology using imaging. In addition, psychosocial constructs like fear avoidance are often overlooked in CFL rehabilitation protocols, where the focus remains primarily on tissue pathology healing rather than the athlete’s psychological response to injury. There is a clear disconnect between lesion site damage and the resulting pain experience. Despite this, no studies to date have examined the relationship between imaging of the lesion site using infrared thermography and pain-related fear measures, leaving a critical gap in our understanding of how physiological and psychosocial factors interact throughout recovery. Infrared thermography is an eco-responsible, non-invasive, non-radiating, and low-cost imaging tool capable of detecting temperature changes related to inflammation and blood flow in injuries. Integrating infrared thermography with psychosocial screening could provide a more comprehensive and efficient approach to monitoring musculoskeletal recovery, aligning with both performance and player goals.

Faculty Supervisor:

Geoffrey Dover

Student:

Partner:

Club de Football les Alouettes de Montréal

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Arts, entertainment and recreation

University:

Concordia University

Program: