Most Common Sports Injuries

Athletics come with its risk of injuries. It doesn’t matter whether you are a professional player or a hobby athlete, you are always two steps away from spraining or hurting something. You could be playing football, basketball, baseball or practicing your karate moves – the type of sport doesn’t matter. Certain parts of your body are more prone to injury than others. Here is a definitive list of the most commonly occurring sports-related injuries –

• Runner’s knee – Knee injuries are very common in sports. They make up at least 55% of all sports injuries. "Runner's knee" is the term used to refer to kneecap-related pains. Swimmers, cyclist, aerobics practitioners, volleyball, football, and basketball players all stand a chance of developing this injury. When the tendon right below the kneecap gets irritated due to overuse or the area under the kneecap is already worn due to arthritis, runner's knee can easily occur.
• Ankle Sprain – Soccer, volleyball, basketball and hockey players commonly experience ankle sprain. Running, turning suddenly or jumping can either tear your tendon or ligament or twist your ankle. The possibility of a fracture can be ruled out with the help of an X-ray.
• Shoulder injuries – Shoulder injuries makeup 20% of all sports injuries and include everything from torn ligaments, dislocations, muscle strain, and misalignment. Overuse of the rotator cuff, i.e., the muscles and tendons around the shoulder, due to excessive overhead movement causes stiffness, weakness, and pain in the shoulder. Tennis, baseball, swimming, volleyball, and weightlifting predisposes you to a shoulder injury.
  
  
• Hamstring Strain – The hamstring muscles to the back of your thigh are highly susceptible to a muscle pull. Care should be taken to perform stretching exercises prior to and post a vigorous workout/game to lower the chances of a hamstring strain.
• Tennis or Golf Elbow – The repeated action of gripping inflames the forearm’s tendons and makes any hand/wrist movement difficult. The injury is also known as medial or lateral epicondylitis in medical parlance. Athletes suffering from this injury can report a slide in their grip strength. Plenty of rest and application of ice-pack onto the injured area can help the injury heal. A brace may be recommended to prevent any further injury to the area. Anti-inflammatory medication may also be prescribed.
• Lower back pain – Lower back pain is experienced more by overweight and sedentary people. But this does not make athletes immune to the condition. Failing to stretch adequately before running can result in lower back pain that manifests as back spasms, sciatica or bulging discs. Tennis players, cyclists, golfers, baseball players, and runners are at an increased risk of lower back pain.
  
  

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