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SPORTS INJURIES
What are sports injuries?
Sports injuries occur during exercise or while participating in a sport. Often, these injuries arise due to overtraining, exercising after a long period of inactivity, not warming up properly or improper technique.
There are different types of sports injuries that range from acute to chronic. An injury that occurs suddenly is known as an acute injury, while an injury due to repeated overuse is a chronic injury. Common sports injuries include:
- Sprains: These occur due to overstretching or tearing of a ligament. Ligaments are flexible bands of fibrous tissue responsible for connecting bones to bones, and to cartilage. Sprains normally affect the knees, ankles, or wrists.
- Strains: These occur due to twisting, pulling or tearing of a muscle or tendon due to overstretching, or overuse. Tendons are thick, fibrous cords of tissue that connects the bones to the muscle.
- Knee injuries: These are injuries that affect how the knee moves. Injuries range from overstretching to tears in the tendons or muscles in the knee.
- Fractures: These are breaks in the bone that occur due to a blow or fall.
- Dislocations: These occur when extreme force is put onto a ligament, resulting in the bone being pushed out of its socket.
- Rotator cuff injury: A rotator cuff is a group of tendons and muscles situated around the shoulder joint. It is responsible for allowing the shoulder to move in all directions. These tendons and muscles may be torn due to overuse.
How are sports injuries treated with physiotherapy?
Physiotherapy is recommended to help rehabilitate the affected area, depending on the severity of the injury. The main goal of rehabilitation is to allow one to return to their highest level of function and independence, especially in the case of amputation. In order to reach these goals, sports injury rehabilitation may include strengthening exercise, mobilising, pain relief techniques and functional skills.
