A sports injury can be either chronic or acute. An acute injury is one that occurs abruptly, often causing injuries like sprained ankles, fractures, and strained backs.
A chronic injury is one that does not occur at once but gradually results from overuse of a certain limb or joint over a long period of time.
According to senior surgeons for sports injuries, generally, the most common causes behind sports injuries are unintended accidents, bad shape during exercise, inadequate warm-up before exercise or sport, or exercises or participation in a sport beyond your ability.
Types of sports injuries and their treatments
Flexor hip strain
The hip flexors are muscles on your thigh’s upper front side. The main functions of the hip flexor muscles are to lift your knee towards your trunk and to help move your leg towards and away from the other leg. Hip flexors may be weak in people who are sitting at work a lot or who may become weak and stiff in people with poor sitting posture. Sports injuries to this muscle group can be caused by sprinting, running slopes and swift turns and sudden starting activities.
Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) strain
The anterior cruciate ligament ACL is one of the knee’s major ligaments that stabilize. Sports injuries for an ACL strain are most commonly caused by slowing down and attempting to cut, pivot or change direction. With the ACL injury, ligaments inside the knee are often torn, making it a devastating occurrence.
Instability complaints when walking or turning corners and increased knee swelling would be common symptoms of ACL tearing. Rest and ice can be used to heal a slight ACL strain or tear without surgery, as the scar tissue helps to heal the ligament and the knee becomes more stable. A complete tear of ACL would require surgery form the best Surgeons for sports injuries and a couple of months of recovery with aggressive physical therapy before the athlete could return to activity.
Concussion
A concussion can be defined as a brain injury due to a jarred or shaken head blow. Concussions are severe injuries not to be taken lightly. An athlete experiencing a concussion should be looking for a certified athletic trainer or a doctor with experience in the treatment of concussions.
Groin Pull
Also called a groin strain is a groin pull. The groin muscles are running right above the knee from the upper-inner thigh to the inner thigh. Groin muscles pull together the legs and are often injured by rapid side-to-side movement and/or lack of flexibility. The injured athlete may notice lateral movement difficulties, getting in and out of cars, as well as tenderness or bruising in the groin or inner thigh.
Groin pull treatment includes regular rest and icing during the first 72 hours for 15 to 20 minutes. The athlete could use heat periodically for 15 to 20 minutes after the first three days, followed by gentle, proper groin stretching and range of movement exercises, such as making snow angels on the ground.
Splint Shin
Athletes with shin splints in the lower leg bone or tibia complain about pain. Shin splints are most commonly found in athletes who are runners or are involved in running activities such as soccer. Athletes are typically diagnosed early in their season with shin splints as they increase their activity or mileage too fast. Rest, icing and gradually increasing running activities is the best way to treat Shin splints. Buying good arch support shoes can also reduce shin pain and help with recovery.
Tennis Elbow
Tennis elbow is usually seen with athletes doing a lot of fascinating activities. It can be labeled as an injury to sports that is overused, also known as epicondylitis medial or lateral. The forearm tendons can become inflamed due to the repetitive action and make any wrist or hand movements extremely painful. Athletes often complain about a lack of grip strength. Tennis or golf elbow early treatment options involve rest and icing the inflamed area. Doctors often prescribe anti-inflammatory medication, or even a brace, to attempt to remove pressure from the area and to prevent further injury to the elbow. Stretching techniques and other reinforcement exercises applied by an occupational or physical therapist can help break down the stiffness and build strength gradually, returning athletes to their sporting activities.
Shoulder Injury
Shoulder injuries cover a large number of dislocation sports injuries, misalignment, muscle strains, and ligament sprains.
The shoulder is the body’s weakest joint and during athletic activities is subject to a lot of force. Many shoulder injuries can be caused either by lack of flexibility, strength or stabilization.
The treatment of shoulder injury begins with rest and icing to help relieve pain and swelling. A physical therapist should evaluate any pain that persists for more than two weeks.
Preventing the most common injuries in sports
Here are some tips recommended by Surgeons for sports injuries
It is sometimes beyond our control to prevent common sports injuries, but sports injuries can be prevented many times. We are carrying some injuries on ourselves because we are not conditioned for the activity. It is recommended that you work out on a daily basis and obtain double benefit and enjoy your weekend activities and gain health benefits.
To avoid common sports injuries, every workout should start with a gentle warm-up. Warming up increases muscle blood flow makes you more flexible, and may reduce injuries.
Injuries caused by overuse are common and preventable. Do not come out after not playing for a while and hit the ball for an hour. Whether it is hiking, running, or team sports, do some pre-participation training first by working slightly in the weeks prior to the activity with the relevant muscle groups.
Learn to recognize when you left everything on the field. Stop when you get tired. Muscle tiredness removes all of your protective mechanisms and increases your risk of injury. If you are not injured today, you can always come out to play again next weekend.
Best way to keep in shape is to meet up with Surgeons for sports injuries and let them advise you the best way to keep your body well maintained to prevent any sports injury.