What are Sports Injuries, Types, Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment?
QI Spine Clinic, 1 month ago
Sports injuries are common in athletes. They may occur while playing a sport or doing exercise and are common in children and younger adults. An athlete or a sports person often faces a sports injury while playing a sport. Sprains and strains are the most common sports injuries. To know more about what are sports injuries, types of sports injuries, causes, symptoms, and treatment read further.
Types of Sports Injuries
Sports injuries may produce different symptoms. Common types of sports injuries are:
- Dislocations: These are common sports injuries that occur when a bone is moved out of the socket, resulting in pain and swelling of the affected joint.
- Fracture: The bone gets broken due to trauma or forceful injury.
- Strains: A sprain occurs when tendons or muscles get stretched or torn.
- Sprain: A sprain occurs when ligaments get stretched or torn.
- Rotator Cuff Injury: The rotator cuff is a group of muscles surrounding the shoulder joint. A tear in the muscle can cause pain and swelling in the shoulder.
- Joint Pain: Joint pain can occur due to structural damage to the joint or an injury to the joint. If your joint pain does not get better in 2-3 weeks, you must consult with an orthopedic doctor.
- Tenderness: You may feel pain at a specific point in the bone, muscle, or joint by pressing a finger into the area. There must be an injury at that point, causing pain by putting pressure.
- Numbness or Tingling: You may feel numbness and tingling in the extremities due to compression of the nerve. It may be due to a nerve injury and can be a serious problem. You must consult with an orthopedic doctor for a proper diagnosis and treatment.
- Swelling: Swelling occurs due to inflammation of the affected part. It occurs when the body tries to heal an injury. Swelling occurs due to the accumulation of blood and fluid in the area to protect and heal the damaged bone and tissue.
- Stiffness: Stiffness may occur due to severe injury and may produce a limited range of motion of the affected part.
- Weakness: The injured part may become weak. The strength of the injured part reduces due to an injury to the muscle or tendon. If you are unable to lift your arm or leg due to weakness, you must consult with an orthopedic doctor.
- Headache: Headache may occur due to mild trauma to the head. Headache may occur due to concussion, and it can also lead to other symptoms such as memory issues, difficulty in concentration, confusion, nausea, dizziness, and irritability.
- Redness: If inflammation occurs after an injury, it may cause redness at the site of injury. If you see redness at the site, you must consult with a physician.
Causes of Sports Injuries
- Sports injuries can be caused due to different reasons. Important causes of sports injuries are improper equipment, a fall, trauma, an accident, poor training, lack of conditioning, and insufficient warm-up. An injury may be acute or chronic.
- An acute injury occurs due to an accident and may result in immediate symptoms such as collision, slip, or fall, which can lead to an acute injury.
- A chronic injury occurs when an acute injury does not heal properly and continues for a long time. Many athletes keep playing while in pain, leading to a chronic injury.
Risk Factors for Sports Injuries
Some people are at an increased risk of getting sports injuries. Risk factors for sports injuries include the following:
- Age: Older adults and children are more prone to suffer from sports injuries. Children suffer from sports injuries because they do not know the limits and get injured more easily. Older adults may have chronic sports injuries that linger on for a long time.
- Improper Care: Sometimes, small injuries are not taken care of properly. Injuries resulting from overuse and stretching can be diagnosed at an early stage, but if they are left untreated, they can result in a chronic injury.
- Obesity: Obesity is a risk factor for sports injuries. Extra body weight can put stress on joints and increase pressure while doing sports. This increases the risk of a sports injury in obese people.
Symptoms of Sports Injuries
The symptoms of sports injuries vary with the severity and types of sports injuries. Common symptoms of sports injuries are:
- Aches and pain
- Tenderness
- Bruising
- Swelling
- Stiffness
- Weakness
- Reduced range of motion
- Inability to use the affected part properly
- Deformity of the joint or bones
- Cracking or grinding noise
Diagnosis of Sports Injuries
When you visit an orthopedic doctor at QI Spine Clinic for an injury, he will perform a physical examination and will take your medical history. The doctor may also order other tests such as X-rays, MRIs, CT scans, and ultrasounds to know the nature and cause of the sports injury.
Treatment of Sports Injuries
Treatment of sports injuries depends on the severity and location. The first line of treatment focuses on controlling inflammation and hastening the healing process. For immediate treatment of acute injuries, the doctor at the
QI Spine Clinic will advise you the following:
- Rest: The doctor will advise you to take rest for quick healing. You must avoid physical activity that can aggravate pain, swelling, or tenderness.
- Ice: Apply an ice pack to the injury site 3-4 times a day for 15-20 minutes.
- Compression: Apply pressure or compression to the injury site using an elastic bandage. It helps in reducing swelling. Do not tie the bandage too tightly, as it can reduce blood circulation.
- Elevation: Elevate the injured part above your heart as it helps in reducing swelling.
- Protection: It is also important to protect the injured site using an assisting device such as a sling or crutches.
Other Treatments for Sports Injuries include the following:
- Pain Medications: The doctor may recommend pain medications or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs to reduce pain, inflammation, and swelling.
- Injections: In severe cases of sports injury, the doctor may give injections to relieve pain immediately.
- Physical Therapy: Physical therapy is important to recover completely after a sports injury. Physical therapy also helps to increase the strength and stability of the affected part.
Prevention of Sports Injury
You can prevent sports injuries by doing warm-ups before doing sports. Proper stretching of the muscles is important to prevent injury. Cold muscles can easily get torn, and they become flexible with a warm-up. Therefore, warm-up exercises are important before doing a strenuous exercise. You can also prevent sports injury by taking the following precautions:
- Use proper equipment for doing exercises.
- Use proper techniques under the guidance of a trainer
- Avoid overuse of muscles
- Cool down your body properly after doing exercise
- Resume your activity slowly
Conclusion
Sports injuries are common in athletes and sports persons. If a sports injury is left untreated, it can cause severe problems. If you feel pain, swelling, redness, tenderness, inability to move a joint or inflammation, you must consult with the top orthopedic doctor at QI Spine Clinic. They will precisely diagnose the sports injury by doing certain tests and suggest the best possible treatments.
