Health professionals often admonish that people are not pursuing an active lifestyle as they should be, that their diets are not as healthy as it should be, and that people should be going out more. While this is true, most people who do go out and suffer a bit of strain or sprain would immediately give up and go back in.
Most people are discouraged by a minor injury, and those are the lucky ones. Often, some people who would suffer from severe sports injuries, such as a torn ACL. Fortunately, there’s an experienced knee surgeon in Orem, Utah, and other cities in the U.S. that could address this problem.
Sports injuries
Doctors are correct in suggesting that their patients should go out more often, but the problem is that people would do go out and engage in sports without proper instructions—no warm-up and no basic training, Some would just buy a nice badminton racket or the latest running shoes and go into a sport of their liking. Then an injury will occur.
Acute and chronic injuries
Injuries resulting from sports are classified into two categories—chronic or acute. Acute injuries occur abruptly—these could be a sprained ankle, fractures, and strained backs. Chronic injuries, on the other hand, are the ones that do not manifest quickly but are often the result of a gradual deterioration of a ligament or tendon due to overuse over a certain period.
There are injuries that are the direct result of accidents or wrong dynamics during exercise, lack of warmup before engaging in a sport or trying harder beyond one’s ability. Joints, ligaments, and tendons are the most commonly affected.
Common injuries in sports activities
Sprains. A tearing of the ligaments is the cause of sprains. This occurs when a joint is knocked out of position by trauma, which also damages supporting ligaments. Typically, sprains occur on wrists, knees, and ankles.
Strains. These occur when a muscle or tendon is over-stretched or over-contracted due to extreme twisting, pulling, or tearing. This could get painful, prompting a sudden stop in the activity.
Injuries of the tendon. If tendons are torn, it is very sudden and extremely painful. If there is a rupturing of the tendon, the only remedy is surgery.
Tendinitis. Usually a partial tear from overuse or aging, tendinitis is an acute injury. Inflammation will soon follow, which causes pain.
Tendinosis.If a small tendon injury does not recover fully, it would lead to tendinosis, which is a chronic condition. There will be no inflammation, but discomfort in the affected area can be felt.
Tendinopathy. This covers damage to the tendon due to overuse, collagen degeneration, or microtears. Symptoms include inflammation, pain, and weakness of the affected area, which usually include the shoulder, wrist, elbow, knee, hip, and ankle.
Injuries in the joints. The knees are most often the parts of the body most prone to joint injuries. Most common causes of knee injuries include hard twisting, which results in damaging the ACL or anterior cruciate ligament; hard landings; forceful extension; and lack of proper warm-ups. Damage is most common to the cartilage or ligaments in the knee’s surrounding area.
Fractures. A common misconception is that fractures only occur from a traumatic impact to the body. The reality is it could also be caused by repetitive stress to the bone.
Dislocation. This acute injury occurs when the bones in a joint are suddenly dislocated due to a traumatic impact, which is common in contact sports such as rugby or wrestling.
Concussion. A seemingly minor injury, a concussion could have life-altering effects on the sufferer. When a person experiences a mild trauma to the head, it’s best to seek treatment as soon as possible to ensure that there are no other effects on the brain. Repeat concussions typically have long-term consequences. If a person suffers a concussion, he or she would display drowsiness, complain of a headache, experience short-term amnesia, would be irritable and confused, and would exhibit imbalance due to dizziness.
While it is good to engage in physical activities to improve health, it’s also important that you understand the mechanics of the sport and do a proper warmup.