Sports injuries -
occur in athletic activities. They can result from acute
trauma, or from overuse of a particular body part.
Traumatic injuries can include:
In sports medicine, a catastrophic
injury is
defined as severe trauma to the human
head, spine,
or brain.
Concussions in sports became
a major issue in the United States in the 2000s, as evidence
connected repeated concussions and subconcussive hits with chronic
traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)
and increased suicide risk. CTE is a progressive
degenerative disease of the brain found in people with a
history of repetitive brain trauma, including symptomatic
concussions as well as subconcussive hits to the head that
do not cause symptoms. It is most pronounced in football,
and a related ailment (dementia
pugilistica) afflicts boxers, but is also seen in other
sports, and in females and adolescents.
Overuse and repetitive
stress injury problems
associated with sports include:
The Seven
Most Common Sports Injuries-Overuse syndrome:
What
you need to know about preventing and treating the seven
most common sports injuries
1.
-Ankle
sprain
2.
- Groin pull
3.
- Hamstring strain
4.
-Shin
splints
5.
-Knee
injury: ACL tear
6.
-Knee injury: Patellofemoral
syndrome — injury resulting from the repetitive movement of
your kneecap against your thigh bone
7.
-Tennis
elbow (epicondylitis)
How to prevent and treat these common sports injuries —
The most common sports injuries are strains and sprains
Sprains
are injuries to ligaments, the tough bands connecting bones
in a joint. Suddenly stretching ligaments
past their limits deforms or tears them. Strains are
injuries to muscle fibers or tendons, which anchor muscles
to bones. Strains are called “pulled muscles” for a reason:
Over-stretching or
overusing a muscle causes tears in the muscle fibers or
tendons.
Preventing the most common sports injuries
Sometimes preventing common sports injuries is beyond our
control, but many times sports injuries are preventable.
Some injuries occur because we're not conditioned for the
activity. Our advice: “Work out daily and get double benefit
— enjoy your weekend activities and garner the health
benefits.”
Every workout should
start with a gentle warm-up to prevent common sports
injuries. Getting warmed up increases blood flow
to the muscles, gets you more flexible, and could decrease
injuries.
Overuse injuries are common and preventable. Don't come out
and hit the ball for an hour after not playing for a while.
Whether it's hiking, running, or team sports, do some
pre-participation training, first by lightly working the
relevant muscle groups in the weeks before the activity.
And
learn to recognize when you've already left it all on the
field. Stop when you are fatigued. Muscle fatigue takes
away all your protective mechanisms and really increases
your risk of all injuries. You can always come out to play
again next weekend.
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