Pharmacological and Nutritional Support for Muscle-Injury Rehabilitation in Football Players: A Focused Narrative Review

• Qilang Zhang

  Author

Muscle injuries are among the most frequent causes of time loss in professional football, with hamstring, adductor, quadriceps, and calf injuries accounting for most cases. This focused narrative review evaluates three commonly discussed intervention categories—non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), platelet-rich plasma (PRP), and protein/creatine support—and considers how they may contribute to rehabilitation without replacing progressive exercise-based care. Literature was identified through PubMed, ScienceDirect, and related sports-medicine sources, with priority given to reviews, controlled trials, and professional-football evidence. The findings indicate that NSAIDs may reduce pain and excessive inflammation in selected acute cases, but prolonged or routine use may interfere with tissue adaptation and increase gastrointestinal or renal risk. PRP has a plausible biological rationale and may reduce return-to-sport time in some grade I–II muscle injuries, although results remain inconsistent because protocols, injury definitions, and outcome measures vary. Protein and creatine are best understood as supportive strategies that help preserve muscle mass, strength, and training capacity during reduced loading; they do not directly regenerate injured tissue. Overall, no single intervention reliably accelerates biological healing. The most defensible approach is phase-specific, individualized, medically supervised, and integrated with load management, progressive strengthening, movement retraining, and psychological readiness.

• JHSCT000009.pdf