Earlier we talked about how much you can earn if you are one of the best in sports. You can earn millions but that doesn’t come off for free. With sports, the prime association that comes to one’s mind is injuries. No matter what sport you think of, there will always be injuries, even golf, though it’s hard for me to believe that you can get injured while swinging; never happened to me. There have been cases where these injuries turn out to be fatal, but that’s the worst case scenario. This particular post discusses the most common injuries that are associated with different sports but there is no need to fret, even though these injuries are inevitable there always are ways to treat them. So this article does not in any way intend to demoralize you.
10. ACHILLES TENDINITIS
Achilles tendon is at the back of the ankle. If it is overused, it tends to inflame and that causes pain. This phenomenon is known as acute Achilles Tendinitis. If you leave this condition untreated, it will become worse and eventually make it impossible for you to run. This injury is experience by those who sportsman who frequently have to use their feet for running or jumping; so basically, almost all the sports.
9. CONCUSSION
A concussion occurs when you receive a blow to the head or if you hit your head on a hard surface. That blow basically injures the brain and it is absolutely not necessary for you to play a sport to receive a concussion. A concussion can cause disturbance in your vision, headache, amnesia, nausea, dizziness and loss of balance. Also if you are experiencing these symptoms frequently, that serves as an indication that you have a concussion. These injuries usually happen while playing hockey, football, boxing or even wrestling.
8. GROIN STRAIN
There is a muscle in the upper thigh that resembles a fan. That muscle usually pulls the legs together. A strain on that muscle is called a groin strain and it usually happens when you suddenly change directions while running or you keep doing that frequently, so if you play soccer, hockey, football or volleyball you can experience this injury.
7. SHIN SPLINTS
This is a condition where you experience pain on the inner side of the shin bone. That usually happens because the muscles that surround the shin bone tend to inflame. Shin splints are very common amongst people who do not exercise so if you have regular exercising routine chances are that you will not have a shin splint. Although, if you intensify your workout routine suddenly or run on a hard surface, you might experience this condition.
6. LOWER BACK PAIN
Lower back pain is not very common amongst athletes at least not when you are still young. This injury tends to hit older athletes and athletes who are into cycling, running or golfing etc. The most common reason for one having to go through lower back pains is improper stretching but you can easily avoid these pains if you warm up before you begin playing or even working out.
5. PULLED MUSCLE
A muscle is usually pulled when you do not exercise in a long time or if you do not warm up before you begin a particular sport. The most common of the pulled muscles include your hamstring and the calf muscle. A hamstring is a muscle situated behind your thighs and if you pull those it is difficult to even walk so forget about running. Rest assured that these are not the only muscles you can pull though. Depending on what sport you play you can even pull muscles in your arm (tennis or badminton).
4. TENNIS OR GOLF ELBOW
Of all the injuries related to sport, tennis (golf) elbow only account for 7%. If you repeatedly use the backhand shots in tennis, the tendon tends to degenerate and that causes pain on the outside of your elbow. The injury is mostly related to tennis which is why the name. The pain you experience is because the epicondyle swells. The best way to prevent this injury is to strengthen your forearm.
3. ANKLE SPRAIN
This injury is very common amongst basketball, volleyball, hockey, soccer and football players and there is nothing you can do to avoid it because any sport that involves heavy running or jumping will cause this injury. You can even twist your ankle while walking so running is a story on a whole different level. What you can possibly do to avoid this injury or better yet reduce it is performing exercises that strengthen your ankles.
2. SHOULDER INJURY
Shoulder injuries account for about 20% of all the sports injuries. A shoulder injury can include dislocations, sprains etc. These injuries are mostly observed amongst athletes who are into tennis, weightlifting, rugby, baseball and swimming. In order to prevent these injuries you should not let your shoulder muscles rest for very long periods of time. Symptoms to this injury include pain (obviously), but around your shoulder area, stiffness, and weakness etc. So if you experience these symptoms, you better get your shoulders checked because the pain itself will not let your rest.
1. RUNNER’S KNEE
Knee injuries account for a whopping 55% of all the sports injuries. So the injuries mentioned in the number 3, 2 and 1 spot account for almost 80 to 85% of all sport injuries. Mostly any pain around your knee region would be associated with the runner’s knee and as the name suggest you can guess that this injury is associated with any sport that basically involves the use of your knew. Again, this includes almost every sport you can think of. The only you can possibly reduce this injury is to perform regular work outs and make sure you warm up before playing or even running. If you are into running, try running on softer surfaces and please change your shoes regularly. Worn out shoes and insoles can also cause this injury.
So these were the top ten injuries that are most commonly associated with sports but let me tell you once more that this doesn’t under any circumstance mean that you should stop playing. Play hard, play fair.
