What is an impact contact sport?
Sport like hockey, football, rugby especially on a pro level, can result in serious injuries. Injuries come with the territory for professional athlete’s. Keep in mind though not just professional athletes run the risk of injury, any person on the football field, swimming, shooting hoops, hitting the ski slopes, or cycling through central park.
Being athletic and exercising regularly is beneficial to the body yet physically risky. Most athletes are guaranteed to at one point experience strained muscles, torn cartilages or even broken bones.
This article in no way is to dissuade anyone in sports to stop exercising. Exercise is good for your overall health and well-being. It’s a well known fact that people who exercise regularly lower risk of diseases, such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and stroke.
Then there’s endorphin’s. Endorphin’s trigger a natural high in the body almost “euphoric” accompanied by a positive mood and an energizing outlook on life.
Sports related physical activity has it’s risks.
Most sports injuries result from:
- Too much to quick.
- Overestimating your physical ability.
- Not warming up/poor technique.
- Pushing the limits (over-training).
- Poor equipment, and accidents.
Type of sports injuries that can occur?
Most sports injuries involve sudden impact or gradual damage overtime (trauma) to the musculoskeletal system, the structures that hold the skeleton together and allow mobility.
- Muscles.
- Bones.
- Ligaments: the thick bands of tissue that connect one bone to another.
- Tendons: the tough, rubbery cords that link muscles to bones.
- Joints: the hips, elbows, ankles and knees.
- Cartilage: tough, flexible tissue that covers the surface of joints and allows bones to slide over one another.
Sports injuries may be a result of a sudden impact or an awkward movement causing sprains, or even serious injury. Then there’s the gradual onset of an injury sue to overusing a particular part of the body.
Overuse injuries are seen more in professional athletes because of their intense workout while training. Overuse injuries are seen in marathon runners effecting parts of the musculoskeletal system, including cracks (stress fractures) in the bones.
What should I do if I have a sports injury?
Don’t try to self medicate or self diagnose. Continuing to workout will only run the risk of further damaging the injured area and making your recovery time even longer. If you are experiencing pain from an injury, seek immediate medical advice. I your injury suffering broken bones (fractures), dislocations, you may require physical therapy and rehabilitation. In such cases getting advice from a sport medicine doctor.
Treating overuse sports injuries?
Overuse injuries are an indication of over straining or overusing a joint, or tendon, or group of muscles for a long period of time. Treatment should be assigned by a sports physician. Recovery time is determined by the severity of an individuals injuries.
Common types of sports injuries:
- Stress fractures – breaks in the bone considered overuse injuries.
- Foot pain and heel pain when tendons in the foot and heel, are strained by overuse or by sudden twisting and imbalance. One common condition plantar fasciitis (bruised heel)
- Broken bones (fractures)
- Ankle pain (Achilles tendinopathy or Achilles tendonitis) caused by overstretching of the tendon.
- Ankle sprain and ankle fractures
- Lower leg pain
- Muscle strains
- Shin splints
- Knee and thigh pain
- Anterior knee pain
- Lateral and medial knee pain
- Posterior knee pain
- Hamstring injury
- Popliteus tendonitis
- Gastrocnemius tendonitis
- Quadriceps strain
- Groin pain
- Bottom (buttock) and hip pain
- Lower back pain
- Stomach (abdominal) pain
- Chest pain
- Upper back pain
- Neck pain
- Shoulder pain
- Elbow pain
- Wrist & hand pain
- Finger injuries
