Sports injury is one of the worst things that can happen to an athlete. Whether you play football, basketball, rugby, soccer, netball, or any sport, an injury can happen at any time. the easiest way to recover from an injury is visiting an orthopedic for diagnosis. After the diagnosis, the orthopedist advice you about the best exercises and stretches to help you recover fast. Other than exercises and stretches, a comprehensive recovery should include good sleep, activity modification, proper nutrition, and psychophysiological recover.
For example, athletes need at least 11 hours of quality sleep each night for the muscles and tissues to repair themselves. Furthermore, an athlete must also heal psychological impacts caused by the injury. Mental and physical health therapy is crucial before going back to the field. If an athlete tries to be active too soon, they risk reinjuring themselves and delaying recovery.
In this blog post, we will talk about the best foods to eat when recovering from an injury. Keep reading to know more!
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Common Sports Injuries Athletes Should Be Aware Of
Sports injuries mainly occur while participating in a favorite sport or exercise. The main factors that put you at risk for an injury include:
- Not warming properly before working out or playing
- You aren’t regularly active
- You play a high contact sport, e.g. football or rugby
- Overtraining your muscles
Most contact sports, such as basketball and football, often see more sports injuries than non-contact sports, such as swimming and running. However, injuries can occur in any sport.
Sports injuries also vary in terms of severity. Some may require you to take a few days off from activity to rest and heal the injury and others take weeks to months to rehabilitate.
1. Muscle Sprain
A muscle sprain is the overstretching or tearing of a tissue or muscle that connect two bones at a joint. This injury occurs at the ankle mostly when you twist the ankle in an abnormal motion. The symptom of a sprain include weakness in muscle, difficulty to move a muscle like you usually can, discoloration, limited ability, and swelling.
Mild to moderate sprains take about 3 to 8 weeks before you regain full mobility. Severe sprains can take more months before you recovery fully. Treatment includes icing, pain relievers, and splinting.
2. Strain
A strain is the tearing of tissues – the thick cords of tissue that connect bone to muscle. It often occurs in the lower back and in the muscle back of the thigh. Symptoms of a muscle strain include sudden pain that increasing while contracting the muscle, loss of range of motion and strength, swelling, and limited ability to move muscle.
Minor injuries may overstretch a muscle while more severe injuries involve partial complete tears in the tissues. Treatment options include splinting, icing, or taking pain relievers. If the pain gets worse, you will need to seek medical attention. Symptoms that may indicate you need to see a doctor include swelling that makes it hard to bend, moving the injured area, and straightening the affected muscle.
3. Dislocation
This is an injury where a joint is forced out of the original position. Dislocations mostly happens in high intense sports and athletic activities that require repetitive use of shoulders elbows, fingers, ankles, hips, knees, and jaw. It is a very painful sports injury and it can temporarily immobilize the joint. When you have this type of injury, immediate health attention is required to help keep the joint back in place, followed by weeks of complete rest.
Also, the dislocated area can be elevated, iced, compressed, or complete rest. Sometimes, the bone ends may go back to their normal positions on themselves. If you have this type of injury, don’t rush the recovery process. Just follow your doctors advice. Otherwise, you might end up making the injury extremely worse.
Recovering from a dislocation may vary. For instance, talk of a shoulder. It can take 12-16 weeks to recover fully. In the case of a partial finger dislocation, it can take 2-3 weeks and it will go back into place easily. However, in the case of a foot or a hip dislocation, it may take 6 months or longer.
4. Stress Fracture
Stress fractures are tiny cracks in bone caused by repetitive force or stress, often due to overdoing. They are seen in weight-bearing bones such as feet and lower legs. Forces that cause stress fracture include continuous jumping up and down or running for long distances.
The common symptoms of a stress fracture: aching at the area of the fracture, swelling, or pain. Also, you can experience pinpoint pain when touched on the bone. Still, you can experience pain that begins after starting activity and clears after taking some rest.
Stress fractures heal on their own with easy measures, such as avoiding activities that put stress on the area. Treatment options include using crutches to reduce the bone’s weight bearing load or walking barefoot. In severe cases, you will require surgery will be needed for the fracture to heal properly.
5. Concussion
This is a type of brain injury caused by a blow to the head, affecting the brain function. The common signs of a concussion include:
- Vomiting or nausea
- Confusion, memory loss, or concentration issues
- Headache or excess pressure in the head
- Sleepiness and excessive fatigue
- Feeling bothered by light or noise
- Ringing in the ears
There is no specific treatment for concussion. However, athletes with concussions are advised to avoid returning to sports or physical activity one week from attaining the injury. Also, reduce the time used on video games, TV, smartphone, or much socialising. You can take anti-nausea and headache relieving medication to relieve the symptoms.
6. Broken Bone
This injury refers to a complete or partial break in the bone. The main causes of bone fractures include osteoporosis, trauma, or overuse. The main symptom of a broken bone is severe pain. Also, you may experience loss of functionality depending on the affected area. A broken bone can repair itself, provided the recovery conditions are favorable for the break to heal well.
Avoid leaving a broken bone unattended because it can lead to either a delayed union or a nonunion. In the later, the bone won’t heal at all, meaning it will remain broken. A nonunion will result in tenderness, swelling, and pain that worsens over time.
7. Knee Injuries
During most athletic activities, the knee is subjected to wears and force. Common knee injuries include dislocations, cartilage tears, fractures, and rips of the anterior cruciate ligament. Knee injuries can be devastating and painful, and in severe cases, you will need to go through a surgical process.
To help reduce the risk of knee injuries in athletes, athletes are advised to do proper stretches, warm-ups, and use of proper padding. An example of a knee injury is jumper’s knee that mostly affect football, basketball, and volleyball players. These sports require frequent jumping and change of direction. Symptoms of this injury include pain under the kneecap, weakness or stiffness in the knee when kneeling, climbing stairs, or when jumping.
8. Shin Splints
Shin splints refers to the inflammation of tendons and muscles around the shin area as a result of high impact movements and repetitive stress associated with dodging, sprinting, or sudden starts and stops. It is a common injury among footballers, runners, and basketball players. The main symptom of shin splints is excessive pain in front of the lower leg while playing the sport.
Knee splints are only acute and go away on their own. Preventive and effective measure include wearing comfortable shoes, proper stretching, and resting periodically.
7. Muscle Spasms
Also known as muscle cramps, muscle spasms occur when your muscle forcibly contracts and can’t relax. Muscle spasms are common and they can a muscle or several muscles in a group. The common sites for muscle spasms are thighs, feet, calves, abdomen, and arms. They usually occur as a result of dehydration, excessive exercise, fatigue, or muscle stress.
Also, athletes who do not include warm up before they exercise may also experience muscle spasms. Muscle spasms usually resolve on their own. If you have painful cramps, the American Osteopathic Association recommends the following methods:
- Taking enough water to ease dehydration-related spasms
- Stretching the cramping muscle gently
- Massaging the cramping muscle gently
- Taking a break from activity that caused the spasm
- Icing to soothe the sore muscles
- Using a heating pad to relax tightened muscles
Preventing muscle spasms is easy. You only need to ensure you take plenty of water and stretchy the muscles well before any exercise of activity that requires repetitive movements.
However, if you experience painful muscle spasms often, you should speak to a doctor because you could be having an underlying health condition, such liver cirrhosis, thyroid disease, or multiple sclerosis.
8. Groin
A groin strain is a tear to adductor muscles of the thigh. Adductor muscles are muscles found on the inner side of the thigh. It is a painful muscle injury that occurs when muscles in the groin area are contracted and stretched with excessive force. People with high chances of getting this injury are athletes, especially footballers. Also, it can affect other athletes who play sports that involve sudden movements.
The main symptoms of a groin strain include:
- Extreme pain in the inner thigh
- Pain when raising the knee
- Swelling of the inner thigh
- Muscles feel tight or weak
- Limping when moving the leg
- Inner thigh feeling warmer than usual
- Extreme pain when closing or opening the legs
Examples of motions that cause a groin strain, include lifting heavy, forceful kicking, twisting the leg, jumping, and sudden change of direction when running. Furthermore, it may happen when muscles are over trained or not warmed up properly before exercise.
So, how do you prevent a groin strain? Well, as an athlete, it can be tricky to prevent a groin. However, there are critical things that can help an athlete avoid this type of an injury. Measures that can prevent a groin pull include:
- Warming up muscles with stretches or light exercise before doing something intense that can damage the muscles
- Maintain the same amount of exercise. Avoid being on/off because this can trigger a groin and other injuries
- If you are a beginner or coming back to exercise, go slowly. Pushing beyond your body’s ability can put too much stress on the adductor muscles.
Treatment for Sports Injuries
If you get hurt playing, it is always important to stop right away. Depending on the injury, you might make the injury worse if you continue playing. Most mild sports injuries are easy to manage and get better in a few days. The RICE is a common treatment plan for sports injuries. It stands for: Rest, ICE, Compression, and Elevation.
Rest:
Resting your muscles is a great way to help them recover. A day or two can help with recovery. But sometimes some injuries will require more time to heal. For injuries affecting knees, legs, or ankles, you may require some crutches to avoid putting much weight on the inured body part.
Ice:
Icing is another common treatment plan that heals a wide range of sports injuries. Icing an injury helps with pain and swelling. It is advised you ice the affected area for 15 to 20 minutes every four hours.
Compression:
Keeping pressure on the injury will help with the swelling and provide extra support. Wrap an elastic medical-grade bandage on the inured area, but not so tight that it inhibits blood circulation.
Elevation:
Supporting the affected area will help the injury recover properly. Also, supporting the area will reduce swelling and pain.
Other than the RICE treatment plan, there are prescription and over-the-counter medications that treat sports injuries. Most of these medications only provide relief from swelling and pain, but not full recovery. Serious sports injuries will require a surgery and physical therapy. If you go for weeks and your injury has not recovered yet, book an appointment with your doctor.
How Do You Prevent Sports Injuries?
One of the easiest ways to prevent sports injury is to do stretches and proper warm up before activity. Not preparing your muscles causes them to overstretch and tear. Warm muscles are more flexible than cold muscles. They absorb fast bends, splints, and jerks, reducing the chances of an injury. To avoid sports injuries, take the steps below:
Use the Proper Equipment:
Before you play your favorite sport, ensure you have the right gear. Ensure you have comfortable shoes that will prevent sores and proper clothing. If you get into contact with teammates most of the times, always wear your guards. Wearing shin guards will also protect you from shin splints.
Use the Right Technique:
Some sports injuries are caused by improper technique. Different types of exercises need different postures and stances for you to get the best out of the exercise without getting an injury. For example, in some activity such as squats, you have to squat deep while keeping your chest straight up to avoid injuring your back, spine, knees, or hips.
When not done right, most athletes complain of severe pain the next day. So, you have to learn the right way to move during your activity or sport.
Don’t Overdo
Your muscles are not robots and that explains why they get tired. Overdoing an activity even when your muscles feel completely tired is not good. Avoid working through the pain and fatigue. Instead, work for a specific duration until you get tired, then continue the next day.
Warm Down
This is another important measure that prevents sports injuries. Always remember to cool down after an activity or playing a sport. Mostly, the stretches used in a warm up are the same used in a warm down.
Don’t Rush! Resume Activity Slowly:
During the offseason, athlete’s muscles relax and they don’t do much activity that put stress on their muscles. Most athletes make a mistake when coming back for the preseason, whereby they rush their muscles instead of taking it slowly.
Because your muscles were in resting mode, they will need light exercises as they adapt to heavy exercises they are used to. Preseason injuries are the worst and they take time to heal because muscles are caught off-guard. Therefore, don’t rush your back in activity or your preferred sport.
When Should You Contact a Doctor?
If your injury causes extreme bruising, pain, swelling, or an obvious deformity, you should see a doctor. Also, you should see a doctor if the pain worsens or you don’t see any improvement after 24 to 36 hours of RICE.
If you have a young athlete dealing with an injury, take the matter seriously. A child’s skeleton develops slowly and kids have weaker bones. You should take extra caution because what seems like a tissue injury may be a more serious fracture. Ensure your child does not play soccer all year to avoid putting to much pressure on the same joints all the time. don’t ignore your symptoms. The earlier you get diagnosed and get treatment, the sooner you’ll recover and get back in the game.