Sports Injuries
It is impossible to anticipate the time and place of accident. Injuries usually affect the health of
individual and may be fatal. If proper medical care is provided to victim, the aggravation or
damage caused by injury can be reduced.
Sports medicine is the branch of medicine which deals with first aid, treatment, curing,
prevention, diagnosis and rehabilitation of injuries caused in sports. Sports medicine gives us
knowledge about the curative and preventive aspects of sports injuries.
Muscle Strain - Muscle strain refers to damage to a muscle or its attaching tendons.
Cause - It occurs as the result of forcible blow on the muscle or sudden violent contractions while it is in
firm contraction so that two ends of the muscles are firmly fixed.
Effect - Muscle damage can be in the form of tearing (part or all) of the muscle fibres and the tendons
attached to the muscle. The tearing of the muscle can also damage capillaries (small blood vessels),
causing local bleeding, or bruising, and pain caused by irritation of the nerve endings in the area.
Symptoms - (a) swelling, bruising, or redness due to the injury; (b) pain at rest; (c) pain when the
specific muscle or the joint in relation to that muscle is used; (d) weakness of the muscle or tendons;
and (e) Inability to use the muscle at all.
Shin Splints refers to the pain along the inner edge of bone (tibia) and are a common exercise-
related problem.
Cause – Mostly associated with running. Any vigorous a common bring on shin splints, at the starting a
fitness program most common symptom of shin splints is pain along the border of the tibia.
Effect / Symptoms – Pain could be sharp razor-like or dull and throbbing occurring both during and
after exercise. Soreness, Mild swelling in the area.
Stress fracture is a tiny crack(s) in a bone caused by continued stress and overuse. summarily,
repetitive application of stress to the bone either due to sustained weight training or forceful muscular
contraction causes stress fractures which are most disturbing bone injury to the sportspersons.
Cause – Ill-devised and unscrupulous training program may also be another reason for stress fracture.
Also, if a novice, starting a new exercise program, does too much and too soon, may also have stress
fracture.
Effect / Symptoms– The tenderness at a specific spot. Swelling around the painful area. It is difficult to
detect a stress fracture until the situation worsens.
Fracture - The application of force to a joint or bone may give rise to bone injury, either at the point of
impact or some distance away. Fractures account for 5-6% of all sports injuries. The bones of the arms
and legs are most apt to be broken. Sports activities rarely involve fractures of the spine or skull.
Cause – Fractures occur when a bone is impacted by more force or pressure than it can support. It may
occur due to sudden fall on hard surface, direct hit with any solid sports equipment or osteoporosis,
Effect / Symptoms – Inability to move, bleeding , severe pain, swelling or discolored skin. Pale or
clumsy sufferer, dizziness, sickness, nausea and inability to perform movement.
Transverse – Breaking of bone at right angle with the axis of bone.
Greenstick (Hairline) – Bent bone with mild cracking , the bone is not broken completely.
Comminuted – Bone is broken into many small pieces at the site of fracture.
Oblique (Displaced/Non-displaced) – Bone breaks diagonally.
Impacted – Bones are driven into another bone .
Compound – Bone breaks with dislocation or open wound.
Complicated – Bones are crushed also delicate organs like brain, lungs,
heart etc. are damaged .
Plantar fasciitis is one of the most common causes of heel pain. It involves inflammation of a thick
band of tissue that runs across the bottom of your foot and connects your heel bone to your toes
(plantar fascia).
Cause - Common in runners. Repetitive stretching and tearing can cause the fascia (the shock-
absorbing bowstring, supporting the arch of the foot) to become irritated or inflamed, though in many
cases of plantar fasciitis, the cause isn't clear.
Symptoms / Effects - Stabbing pain occurs with first steps in the morning, and with movement. It can
also be triggered by long periods of standing or rising from sitting. The pain is usually worse after
exercise, not during it.
Sprained Ankle the ankle joint, that connects the foot with the lower leg, is forced beyond the normal
range of motion, as in a sudden twist and stretch, the result is sprained ankle with damage to the
ligament fibers or their attachments. An unnatural twisting motion can happen when the foot is planted
awkwardly, when the ground is uneven, or when an unusual amount of force is applied to.
Cause – Injuries to the ligaments or tendons of the ankle often happen during the sporting events but
also can happen during simple activities as getting out of bed.
Symptoms / Effects – Tenderness on touching, swelling, bruising, restricted range of motion, instability
of ankle or popping sound or sensation at the time of injury.
Tennis Elbow the is a name given to tendinitis that occurs when the tendons are inflamed (swelling)
and cause pain in the elbow and the arm.
Cause – Any repetitive gripping activities, especially if they use the thumb and first two fingers, may
contribute to tennis elbow. Tennis elbow occurs to sportspersons who play tennis, racquet ball, squash,
fencing, weightlifting, etc. It can also affect people with such jobs as carpentry, typing, painting, spinning
raking or knitting.
Symptoms / Effects – The symptoms of tennis elbow include pain like you have in shin splints and
tenderness in the bony knob on the outside of your elbow. The pain may also radiate into the upper or
lower arm.
LOWER BACK pain is a common disorder involving the muscles, ligaments nerves disorder bones of
the back.
Cause – low back pain develops after movements that involve lifting. twisting, forward bending, obesity,
smoking, stress, poor posture, osteoporosis, vertebral fracture, sprains and strains, etc.
Symptoms / Effects – Pain can vary from dull pain that develops gradually to sudden. sharp or
persistent pain felt below the waist. It may travel downward into the buttocks and sometimes into one or
both lower extremities. it may worsen while bending, sitting or standing for long hours.
Hip Bursitis: A bursa is a closed fluid-filled sac that provides a gliding surface to reduce friction
between tissues of the body. There are two major bursae in hip joint such as trochanter bursa, which is
located at the outside point of the hip and iliopsoas bursa, which is located in upper buttock area.
Cause – When any of these bursae is irritated or inflamed it causes pain in the hip. This is a common
cause of hip pain. Gout, injury of the hip, infection with bacteria, diabetes, incorrect posture, spine
problems, stress on soft tissues, uneven leg length, etc. are the common causes of hip bursitis.
Symptoms / Effects – The main symptom of hip bursitis is pain in the hip. The pain usually extends to
the outside of the thigh area. Generally such pain is worse at night when lying on the affected hip.
Concussion: Concussion, the impact can jolt your brain and you may go dizzy. Notably, traumatic brain
injuries can cause bruising, damage to the blood vessels, and injury to the nerves as a result your brain
does not function normally. Your vision may be disturbed, you may lose equilibrium, or you may fall
unconscious. In short, the brain is confused.
Symptoms / Effects – A few common physical, mental, and emotional symptoms a person may display
following a concussion could be confusion or feeling dazed, clumsiness, slurred speech, vomiting of
nausea, headache, dizziness or disturbed balance, blurred vision, sensitivity to light and noise.
Runner's knee is a general term used to describe the pain around the kneecap or patella you feel. Any
activity (including walking, skiing, biking, jumping, cycling, and playing soccer) that repeatedly stresses
the knee joint can cause the disorder.
Symptoms: The major symptom of the runner's knee is the feeling of pain while walking, climbing or
descending stairs, squatting, kneeling, running, sitting down or standing up, or sitting for a long time with
the knee bent. Other symptoms include swelling and popping or grinding in the knee.
Causes: The common causes of runner's knee can be overuse (doing a lot high stress exercises
repeatedly), direct hit at the knee, mal-alignment of the bones, problem with the feet (flat feet or fallen
arches) or over-pronation (which means your foot rolls down and inward when you step), weak or
unbalanced high muscles such as quadriceps, etc.
Achilles tendonitis is an overuse injury of the tapering part of the calf muscle.
Symptoms: A mild ache in the back of the leg or above the heel after running or sports activities
Causes: It mostly occurs in runners who have suddenly increased their intensity or duration of their runs
or by intensive strain on the Achilles tendon.
MCL Tear - The medial collateral ligament (MCL) is located on the inner part, of the knee, but it is
outside the joint itself. Ligaments strong guy-rope like cables that hold bones together and add stability
and strength to a joint. The MCL connects the top of the tibia, or shinbone, to the bottom of the femur
(thigh bone).
The symptoms of an MCL injury may include
1. a popping sound upon injury,
2. swelling of the knee joint,
3. pain and tenderness along the inner part of your knee,
4. locking or catching in the knee joint, and
5. a feeling that your knee is going to give out when you put weight on it.
ACL Tear - Torn ACL An anterior cruciate ligament is tearing one of the major ligaments in your knee.
The ACL injuries mostly occur in sports like basketball, soccer, football, tennis, downhill skiing,
volleyball, gymnastics, which involve sudden stops, jumping or changes in direction.
The symptoms of an ACL injury may include
1. a "popping" sensation in the knee,
2. severe pain and inability to continue activity,
3. swelling that begins within a few hours,
4. loss of range of motion,
5. a feeling of instability or "giving way" with weight bearing.
PREVENTION OF SPORTS INJURIES
Warm-up is an essential activity. It reduces the chances of getting injured because remain toned-up
after a good warm-up, along with that cooling down is equally important to reduce muscle stiffness and
soreness.
Proper fitness of participants is essential to prevent injuries.
A pre-tournament medical screening can identify possible unfit athletes.
Sports injuries can be prevented to some extent if correct equipment is used i.e. standardized and
approved. Maintenance of these equipment is also equally important to prevent injuries. An worn-out
equipment can also cause injury.
Certain sports require professional coach assistance right from the basics of the game as the proper
knowledge plays an vital role in preparing an athlete.
Modern era sports always try ensure maximum safety of the participants through various protective
equipment as not only it ensures safety to player who wears it but also enhances the performance.
One of the most neglected aspect of the training schedule is the rest.
Rest should be provided at regular intervals as well as with corrective measures to avoid injury.
Certain sports like gymnastics, body-contact sports and combat sports should be always performed
under the observation of the coach as a minor change can be a reason to career threatening injury
Kinesiology is a boon to the modern sports along-with the various scientific advancements
Today with use of various software to use, a minor miscalculation in the throw of an athlete can be
corrected that was quite impossible to assess otherwise.
A athlete can be doing everything right but with a sub standard quality the athlete will be always ill-
prepared for any tournament as well as will be more prone to an injury due to unsafe facilities.