Burners are common but scary

Deon Grant doesn't remember exactly when he got his first burner. It probably was in college, he said. But he remembers what it felt like.

"You don't know what it is [the first time]," the Giants safety and 12-year NFL veteran said. "All you do is feel this pain and you can't feel your arm. You feel like you popped something or broke something . . . At first, you're thinking it's something real serious."

Grant said he gets that sensation in just about every game these days. A little jolt of tingling down his arm, some lingering pain. Fellow Giants safety Antrel Rolle said he's had about four of them during his NFL career.

"It just goes dead," he said of his arm. "There have been times I've played through it and you just hope the play doesn't come your way."

Defensive end Dave Tollefson had one last year that lasted a few days and hurt to the point that he couldn't raise his arm. He was fine when the next game came around and back on the field.

"That's a sensitive area when you're sticking your head in there to hit someone," Tollefson said. "It's really just a part of football."

They're called burners or stingers -- the names are interchangeable -- although technically they go by the much more scary name "transient neurapraxia." And yes, they are a part of football. And yes, in the vast majority of cases, they go away without much incident.

But the Giants have been dealing with two cases lately in which the effects of the burner have lingered. Justin Tuck suffered one Aug. 29 that kept him out of the season opener Sept. 11. He returned a week later but aggravated it against the Eagles on Sept. 25. He's also dealing with a groin injury, but his neck still is bothering him and he'll likely miss Sunday's game against the Seahawks because of the two injuries.

Center David Baas had to come out of the Cardinals game at halftime because of a second burner in as many weeks. He already has been ruled out for Sunday's game.

So what makes most burners non-issues and others persistent problems? Any number of things, from a history of neck injuries -- something just about anyone who ever played even high school football, never mind in the NFL, has without knowing about it -- to recurring traumas in the area.

"Generally it goes away in seconds," said Dr. Craig Levitz, a sports medicine specialist who is chief of orthopedic surgery at South Nassau Community Hospital and was co-author of a study on burners in pro football players that was published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine in 1997. "Most of the time with a first burner, the symptoms are almost gone by the time a trainer gets over to look at the player on the bench. It's generally not a big deal."

When the symptoms don't go away, though, as in Tuck's and Baas' cases, "that's when we worry," Levitz said. "Is this a bigger deal?"

Tuck has said repeatedly that he does not have a bulging or herniated disc in his neck, the kind of injury that forced friend and teammate Mathias Kiwanuka to spend most of the 2010 season on injured reserve. It could be that he and Baas simply have a chronic stinger.

The more times a player gets the injury, the more susceptible he becomes, Levitz said -- much like a concussion. He said the general rule is that a player can return to action once the symptoms go away on the first stinger. On a second stinger, a player should rest twice as long as it takes for the symptoms to clear.

"Some doctors, not myself, but some doctors would argue that if he has a third burner, he should be done for the year," Levitz said. "You're sitting at home as a fan and you're like, 'What are they doing? The guy has a stinger? I have one of those, get back in there!' But if it's a recurring stinger, then you have to be much more cautious."

The Giants are doing just that with both players. There is some consideration to resting Tuck for another few weeks, using the bye as a built-in rest, and hoping he can stay healthy for the rest of the season.

The good news, Levitz said, is that it is very rare for a player to suffer permanent damage from a burner or a stinger. What is not rare is the stinger itself. He said that during the course of a football season, more than 50 percent of players suffer at least one of them. In more than 90 percent of those cases, the player is back on the field within minutes.

For Tuck or Baas, another stinger could mean prolonged time on the sideline. For most other players, though, it's just a part of the job description. They'll get them, come off the pile or up from the turf, shake their arm a little, rub the feeling back into their hand, and get back to work.

"It's a product of the game we play," Tollefson said. "I'll get one this year. Everybody does."