The 10 Most Common Types of Sports Injuries
Exercise is both fun and healthy. Your body is actively moving and your mind will be fresher. Sports do require you to move your body with good concentration and coordination so that the results are maximum. If you lose your focus even a little while exercising, the consequences can range from minor to serious injuries of various types.
Types of sports injuries that often occur
To avoid various types of sports injuries, you need to prepare yourself and warm up properly. You should also maintain your concentration so that unwanted things do not happen. So that you can be more careful, consider the 10 types of injuries that most often occur while exercising below.
1. Injury to the ankle muscle
You may have or even frequently experience this one injury. A sprained or injured ankle is one of the most common occurrences in sports. Usually this is caused by over-stretching or tearing of a tendon (the band of tissue that connects one bone to another), tendons (the tissue that connects muscles to bones), or muscles. The ankle is often injured because this is where the three bones meet. Usually when you are running or walking on an uneven surface, your ankle is more prone to sprains.
When you sprained your ankle, rest your foot first and do not use it to walk or stand. You can compress it with ice to reduce swelling and reduce pain. For a faster recovery, lift your ankles so that they are level with your heart. Do it while sitting and leaning back.
2. Shin injury
This injury is characterized by pain in the calf and upper shinbone. Injury to the shin or shin splints occurs because of inflammation in the muscles and can happen to anyone. Most shin injuries occur when you run or jump. The most common cause is when you suddenly increase the intensity of physical activity. For example accelerating the pace jogging. Other causes include exercising in uncomfortable shoes and running up or down hard asphalt roads.
For pain relief, apply ice to the calves and shins and leave it on for a few minutes. If the pain does not go away, you can take pain and inflammation relievers such as ibuprofen or aspirin. If for days your injury has not improved, you should check with a health professional.
3. Low back pain
Lumbago or lower back injuries are experienced by those of you who are lifting weights, cycling, or playing golf, tennis, and baseball. Usually the pain will appear in the waist or lower back. This pain can be caused by many things such as a pinched nerve, tendon or muscle tear, and herniated disk. This is a sign that the exercise you are doing is too much for your body and you need rest.
You can treat low back pain yourself by resting and applying ice packs. First avoid movements such as bending or lifting heavy weights. If the pain has subsided, you can do some light stretches.
4. Shoulder injury
On your shoulders there are four large muscles that are responsible for supporting and maintaining the shoulder joints. So, the shoulder is the part that is prone to injury if you do sports such as swimming, push ups, badminton, or baseball where the shoulder joint is the foundation of your arm movement. Repetitive and intense movements of the shoulder joint will cause the shoulder muscles to fatigue and swell or tear.
When you have this injury, stop moving your arms and shoulders. To relieve pain, apply ice to the sore shoulder and let it sit for 15 to 20 minutes. If the pain has subsided within a few days, apply a hot compress or apply hot ointment to relax stiff, sore muscles.
5. Muscle cramps
These types of sports injuries are common, especially if you start to work out intensely without warming up and stretching your muscles thoroughly. Muscle cramps can occur in any part of the body, but usually when exercising cramps will appear in the legs. When the cramp strikes, your muscles contract suddenly so that you will feel pain and the area affected by the cramp will be difficult to move for a few seconds or minutes. Muscle cramps can be life threatening if they occur while swimming because you are at risk of drowning.
When cramps strike, try to stay calm and don’t panic. Do light stretches on the affected area and massage gently as you continue to move. After the cramps go away, don’t continue exercising immediately. Let your muscles rest first.
6. Knee injury
Knee injuries often occur in athletes in running, football, basketball, volleyball, and athletic sports that rely heavily on the knee. Usually characterized by pain in the kneecap accompanied by a sound like a crack or fracture. This type of sports injury can occur due to accidents such as falls and bumps or due to irregular movements and prolonged movement with the knee as a support. In some cases, the joints in the knee are shifting, causing excruciating pain.
Curing knee injuries requires intense care. You should get complete rest so that you recover faster. Keep your knees up so that they are always up, for example by propping them up with a high pillow when you lie down. To help reduce pain, apply ice. However, if your injury does not improve after days of treatment, consult a healthcare professional.
7. Elbow injury
For those of you who often exercise such as badminton, tennis, golf, volleyball, or lifting weights, be careful not to injure your elbow, which is often the support. Elbow injuries occur due to inflammation of the muscles that are constantly used to move and hold weights. You will also feel pain when moving and raising your arm or hand.
To reduce pain, apply ice to the elbow and sore area for 20 to 30 minutes every four hours until the pain subsides. You can also take pain and inflammation relievers to speed healing.
8. Achilles tendon injury
This type of sports injury usually occurs in your heel to calf muscles. Sports such as football, basketball, volleyball and running increase your risk of developing Achilles tendinitis. You will feel pain in the heel or calf caused by the tearing of the tendon.
Generally, Achilles tendon injuries will heal on their own after you rest your leg. However, to relieve pain you can apply ice compresses and raise the heels higher.
9. Hamstring injury
When you feel a painful sensation like your muscles are being pulled on the back of your thigh, you have a hamstring injury. The hamstrings are the four muscles that run along the length of your hamstrings. This type of sports injury can injure anyone and usually occurs due to lack of warm-up, muscle fatigue, and sudden movements. Treating hamstring injuries is similar to other muscle injuries. Simply compress with ice and rest for a few moments.
10. Concussion
You must have heard of this injury. Concussions are common and are one of the most commonly treated injuries in emergency departments around the world. Concussion usually occurs due to impact (trauma) to the head which injures blood vessels and nerves of the brain. As a result, you will experience various disorders such as dizziness, reduced vision, vomiting, and loss of consciousness. Immediately call medical personnel if you experience any of these symptoms.
Hello Health Group does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
