What is a sports injury?
Injuries to the musculoskeletal system are commonly referred to as sports injuries.
In recent years, the number of sports injuries has been on the rise. This is due to the urgent need to exercise and the lack of knowledge and prevention of injuries.
For example, sports such as jogging, running, and mountain climbing are associated with ankle and knee joint and spine injuries, while golf is associated with shoulder and elbow joint injuries.
Excessive exercise can also lead to overuse syndromes, such as shoulder impingement syndrome from excessive upper body workouts at the gym, and elbow joint inflammation from golf and tennis.
Causes
Most injuries are caused by overexertion or overuse.
As we age, our physical abilities change, with muscle strength declining from the mid-20s, ligament elasticity starting at age 30, and bones becoming progressively weaker from age 50.
Your workouts should take these physical characteristics, flexibility, and gender into account.
As with any exercise, it’s dangerous to overdo it.
It’s important to keep in mind that the majority of overuse injuries are caused by poor exercise habits.
In addition, you should take into account the weather conditions and use the appropriate equipment and protective gear to reduce the risk of injury.
How to treat sports injuries
Acute injuries are characterized by immediate physical changes, such as pain and swelling.
Chronic injuries are more difficult to diagnose on your own, so if you notice unexpected pain or abnormalities during your workout, it’s a good idea to visit a specialist.
In terms of treatment, fractures are immobilized in a cast, dislocations are usually treated non-surgically first, and recurrent dislocations, such as in the shoulder joint, are sometimes treated surgically.
Most knee dislocations involve ligament tears and require ligament repair or reconstruction.
In particular, cruciate ligament tears or meniscus tears in the knee joint are often treated with arthroscopic surgery.
For ligament injuries (sprains), a third-degree sprain, which is a complete tear, may require partial surgery, while muscle contusions are usually treated conservatively unless they are severe.
Warming up and stretching are essential
Warming up and stretching are important procedures that signal the beginning and end of a workout.
Warming up and stretching is an essential part of exercise because without it, you’re more likely to cause damage to your body, which is why it’s so important to warm up and stretch.
Think of warming up like a track and field athlete walking in place or running lightly before a race, or a boxer jumping rope or shadow boxing with a trainer before a fight.
Not only do these movements warm you up, but they also increase the level of excitement in your brain’s motor center, which prepares you for intense exercise or mental pressure and improves cardiorespiratory function.
It also prepares you to more easily overcome the “dead point,” or the body’s pain that occurs immediately after exercise.
Stretching, on the other hand, is the process of lengthening muscles, tendons, ligaments, and increasing joint range of motion. It is the process of tensing or relaxing the body in a way that is appropriate to the nature of the exercise, to improve performance, and to prevent injury.
These stretches are accomplished by gently pulling on the tendons and muscles to stretch them without causing them to bounce or recoil.
ou do this by slowly stretching the muscles and tendons until you feel a slight pain, and then holding the stretch for 10 to 30 seconds.
The effect of stretching is to tone the tendons and muscles and increase flexibility by increasing the range of motion of the joints.