Sports Medicine Master System

Winning was a good thing, of course, but Chen Yu was more concerned about Olajuwon and Ewing’s situation.

"Those two?" Nelson chuckled over the phone. "Chen, I think you’re incredible. How on earth did you do it? In this game, the two of them actually started coordinating on their own, and their teamwork was exceptionally good."

"Over the course of the whole game, we grabbed a total of 49 rebounds, 16 more than the Spurs. And even though Hakeem only scored 9 points, under his defense, Duncan was held to just 11."

"And Patrick, he and Hakeem had so many brilliant plays together. He scored 21 points, the second-highest on the team. You should have been there. Robinson couldn’t guard him at all."

"Oh, and after the game, they high-fived to celebrate and even started talking to each other again."

Watching the whole game, it was as if the two had never been at odds.

Their teamwork was outstanding. One focused on defense while the other set screens and supported the offense. They managed to suppress the Spurs on both ends of the court.

You couldn’t tell at all that they were two old-timers with a combined age of nearly eighty.

And all of this was because of Chen Yu. Nelson even suspected that Chen Yu must have secretly talked to the two of them behind the scenes.

Otherwise, how could they go from nearly fighting one game to making up in the next?

In reality, Chen Yu hadn’t done anything.

But thinking about it now, doing nothing had been the best choice.

Setting Olajuwon aside, from the moment Ewing said he was willing to play power forward, Chen Yu knew that even if the conflict escalated, Ewing would be the one to compromise in the end.

His desire for a championship was just too strong.

"Let’s wait and see. After all, it’s just one game. It doesn’t prove much," Chen Yu said with a smile.

Besides, it was still uncertain whether this twin-towers arrangement would meet Skiles’s expectations.

Just as Van Bronckhorst was arriving in Phoenix, Chen Yu’s clinic welcomed another athlete.

"Dr. Chen, we meet again."

The visitor immediately shook Chen Yu’s hand, his face wreathed in smiles.

"Mr. Stevenson," Chen Yu replied with a smile and a nod.

It was Tony Stevenson, Old Haaland’s agent. He had visited the clinic before, so they had met.

To be precise, however, he wasn’t Old Haaland’s exclusive agent.

Old Haaland had signed an agency contract with SPX Sports Group from the United Kingdom. It was a large agency, and Stevenson was merely an employee assigned to handle Old Haaland’s affairs.

"And this is?" Chen Yu asked, turning to another young man who had come with them.

He was in his thirties, also dressed in a well-fitted suit. He had blue, deep-set eyes and a neatly trimmed beard, exuding a distinct English charm.

"Hello, Dr. Chen." He stepped forward and offered a business card with both hands.

Chen Yu took it and glanced at it.

Struan Marshall, also from SPX Sports Group, a colleague of Stevenson.

Putting the card down, Chen Yu looked past the two men at the young man sitting behind them in a wheelchair. He was wearing a striped short-sleeved shirt and a baseball cap. When he noticed Chen Yu’s gaze, he gave a somewhat bitter and shy smile.

Steven Gerrard.

The football prodigy who was just a few months shy of his 22nd birthday.

"Is it a groin strain?" Chen Yu frowned imperceptibly.

’It’s just a minor injury, yet they’ve come all the way to the United States for treatment. Isn’t that a bit of an exaggeration?’

Marshall, however, seemed to read his mind and quickly explained, "Dr. Chen, Steven’s groin is very troublesome. It’s a chronic injury. He joined the National Team in 2000, and in the second half of that year, his groin problems started to get serious. He missed several National Team matches because of it."

"In the meantime, Liverpool arranged for him to go to Germany to seek treatment from Bayern’s team doctor, Hans Wolfart."

This doctor had been with Bayern for many years and was a world-renowned physician in the football world.

"After his treatment, his back and groin injuries got better for a while, but then they recurred. It flared up again late last year after the season started. Then, last week, during the Euro Champions Cup match against Galatasaray, he strained his groin yet again."

"Liverpool wanted him to go back to Germany for treatment, but I don’t think Germany is a good choice."

Wolffat is skilled, but no matter how skilled he is, why did Scholl and Desler come to Chen Yu for treatment?

It could only mean that Chen Yu was better.

"I believe his groin injury is already affecting his career. With the World Cup approaching, we don’t want him to miss it because of this, which is why we came to the United States. After all, you are the world’s top doctor and have cured many athletes."

Marshall finished with a healthy dose of flattery for Chen Yu.

It wasn’t entirely flattery, though. Ronaldo, Redondo, and Baggio were the best examples.

After Baggio returned to play for Brescia this month, he’d been in fiery form. In three matches, he had already scored four goals, as if he had returned to his peak. Countless Italian media outlets cried out in disbelief.

Thus, Chen Yu’s reputation in European Football was not small at all.

Hearing Marshall’s explanation, Chen Yu finally took it seriously. He focused his Eye of All-Seeing on Gerrard’s groin.

Groin injuries were indeed troublesome and prone to recurrence.

Curing them completely was, in a way, both easy and difficult.

Just as Marshall had said, his frequent groin injuries began in the second half of 2000, the same year he was selected for the National Team.

Liverpool was a Premier League giant, competing on multiple fronts. Add the National Team to that, and the physical toll on the players was bound to be immense.

Even though he was only 20 and very young, look at Landon Donovan. He also developed groin problems at that age, precisely because he played too many games and the physical demand was too great.

As he looked, Chen Yu’s brows furrowed slightly.

"Where are his medical records?"

Chen Yu asked for Gerrard’s records and began to read them carefully.

The injury was to his right groin. The specific muscle strained was the pectineus, the same as Donovan’s and the one most prone to injury.

However, Gerrard’s injury was more severe than Donovan’s. The muscles, ligaments, and tendons surrounding the pectineus had already developed adhesions.

This area is dense with tissue, crisscrossed by arteries, veins, and nerves. Once inflammation and adhesions occur, the impact is significant.

Furthermore, the pectineus muscle is located deep within the groin, making surgery difficult. Simple drug treatments are also almost useless, which is a major reason why a full recovery is so elusive.

"Hmm?" Chen Yu let out a soft sound of surprise and pointed to the records. "I see here that Wolffat’s diagnosis says his frequent back injuries have a certain congenital cause. Do you know the specifics of what he said?"

Gerrard didn’t just have groin problems; he also had back injuries that flared up frequently.

And during his diagnosis in Germany, Wolffat had noted that his back injuries were related to his congenital development.

"I do," Marshall nodded. He had been the one to accompany him to Germany the year before last.

After a moment of recollection, Marshall said, "I remember Dr. Wolffat saying at the time that Steven’s frequent back injuries were possibly caused by his body growing too fast during his teenage years. But as for the specific problem, I’m not a doctor, so I can’t say for sure."

Chen Yu glanced at Gerrard again, having a general idea of what had happened.

’It probably wasn’t just rapid growth. He likely started professional football training too early and trained too hard as a teenager.’

Of course, many football players who become stars show their talent early and seem to breeze through the ranks.

But every individual is different. Some people naturally bulk up quickly and have strong bodies.

Others put on muscle more slowly. Gerrard was likely in the latter category. His body grew too fast, creating an imbalance between his muscular and skeletal development, which laid a hidden foundation for frequent injuries later on.

If he had received some form of intervention during his youth, these problems likely wouldn’t have occurred.

But it was too late to talk about that now.

The best option now was to train. It was like with Tracy McGrady, who had a certain degree of congenital scoliosis and had to train his back muscles extensively to minimize back injuries.

Setting down the medical records, Chen Yu arranged for Gerrard to undergo an examination.

After the examination, Marshall nervously asked if surgery would be necessary.

Even Gerrard, sitting in his wheelchair, grew tense.

The World Cup was only three months away. If he had surgery now, he would once again miss playing for the National Team due to injury.

Chen Yu shook his head.

For the groin area, surgery wasn’t a very good option.

On the contrary, the most common type of surgery performed there was for inguinal hernias.

But for athletes, their common groin problems were usually inflammation and tears in the tendons and ligaments. Surgery would be to repair those things.

And unless the tear was extremely severe, surgery was generally not the chosen option; physical therapy was the main course of treatment.

This was also why the injuries tended to recur and were never completely cured.

"By the way, are you unable to stand right now?" Chen Yu asked, looking at Gerrard, who had been in the wheelchair ever since he came in.

Gerrard shook his head. "It’s not that I can’t stand. It’s just that it hurts whenever I walk—hurts a lot. It’s just not convenient."

Chen Yu had already seen it with his Eye of All-Seeing. There were fascial adhesions near his groin, and coupled with the tear, it was bound to hurt with any movement.

"Have him lie down on the bed," Chen Yu instructed an orderly, directing Gerrard to the examination table.

"Wait for me a moment."

Chen Yu left the examination room and returned to his office, retrieving a wooden box from under a cabinet.

He opened it. Inside, several items were wrapped in gauze.

There were a few disposable Floating Needle syringes and a set of Small Needle Knives of various sizes.

For Gerrard’s groin, there was a muscle strain, inflammation, and fascial adhesions.

The muscle strain needed to heal on its own; there was no need for surgery.

The inflammation needed to be controlled with medication.

As for the adhesions, Chen Yu suddenly had an idea: he could probably treat them with the Small Needle Knife.

Because even minimally invasive surgery still causes trauma to the body.

This set of Small Needle Knives was a gift from Zhou Chengyang during his academic exchange visit to China. Fortunately, Chen Yu’s fame in the United States had allowed him to get them smoothly through security and back to Phoenix.

Taking out the Small Needle Knives, he returned to the examination room. Gerrard was already lying down.

"Take off your pants," Chen Yu said as he began sterilizing the Small Needle Knives.

Gerrard’s expression changed slightly, and he silently glanced at the female nurse by the bed.

Seeing that he wasn’t moving, the nurse assumed he was having trouble and bent over to help pull his pants down.

Marshall’s attention, however, was on the Small Needle Knives in Chen Yu’s hands. He asked urgently, "Dr. Chen, are you going to start the treatment now?"

Chen Yu nodded, then had Gerrard spread his legs a little to expose his groin.

The pose was slightly embarrassing, especially with a young, pretty nurse right beside him.

However, when Gerrard saw Chen Yu approaching with a five-centimeter-long steel needle, he let out a low gasp and pointed at it hastily. "Dr. Chen, what are you going to do with that?"

Chen Yu picked up a syringe and administered a local anesthetic.

Compared to Acupuncture, a Small Needle Knife used for releasing fascia is more painful, so it was best to use a local anesthetic.

"Relax, it won’t hurt."

Chen Yu then had the nurse hold Gerrard down.

This was to prevent him from moving around, as he had never had this kind of treatment before.

Gerrard wanted to struggle, but he was already on the bed. He could only accept his fate, closing his eyes with an expression that said, ’Just do whatever you want.’

Without hesitation, Chen Yu precisely inserted the needle into Gerrard’s groin. The five-centimeter-long Small Needle Knife went a good three to four centimeters deep.

Nearby, Marshall and Stevenson watched with furrowed brows. Upon seeing this, they couldn’t help but involuntarily flinch and clench their own groins.

That needle looked like it hurt a lot.