Sports injuries - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Sports injuries are injuries

Injury

-By cause:*Traumatic injury, a body wound or shock produced by sudden physical injury, as from violence or accident*Other injuries from external physical causes, such as radiation injury, burn injury or frostbite*Injury from infection...

that occur in athletic activities. In many cases, these types of injuries are often due to overuse or acute trauma of a part of the body when participating in a certain activity. For example, runner's knee

Chondromalacia patellae

Chondromalacia patellae is a term that goes back eighty years. It originally meant "soft cartilage under the knee cap," a presumed cause of pain at the front and especially inner side of the knee. This condition often affects young, otherwise healthy individuals.Chondromalacia is due to an...

is a painful condition generally associated with running

Running

Running is a means of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. It is simply defined in athletics terms as a gait in which at regular points during the running cycle both feet are off the ground...

, while tennis elbow

Tennis elbow

Lateral epicondylitis or lateral epicondylalgia, also known as tennis elbow, shooter's elbow and archer's elbow, is a condition where the outer part of the elbow becomes sore and tender...

is a form of repetitive stress injury at the elbow. Other types of injuries can be caused by a hard contact with something. This can often cause a broken bone or torn ligament or tendon

Injuries are a common occurrence in professional sports

Professional sports

Professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, are sports in which athletes receive payment for their performance. Professional athleticism has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought larger audiences, so that sports organizations...

and most teams have a staff of Athletic Trainer

Athletic trainer

An athletic trainer is a certified, health care professional who practices in the field of sports medicine. Athletic training has been recognized by the American Medical Association as an allied health care profession since 1990....

s and close connections to the medical community

Sports medicine

Sports medicine is a branch of medicine that deals with physical fitness, treatment and prevention of injuries related to sports and exercise...

. Controversy has arisen at times when teams have made decisions that could threaten a players long-term health for short term gain.

Classification

Sports injuries can be broadly classified as either traumatic or overuse injuries. Traumatic injuries account for most injuries in contact sports such as Association football, rugby league

Rugby league

Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...

, rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

, Australian rules football

Australian rules football

Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

, Gaelic football

Gaelic football

Gaelic football , commonly referred to as "football" or "Gaelic", or "Gah" is a form of football played mainly in Ireland...

and American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

because of the dynamic and high collision nature of these sports. These injuries range from bruises and muscle strains, to fractures and head injuries.

A bruise or contusion is damage to small blood vessels which causes bleeding within the tissues. A muscle strain is a small tear of muscle fibers and a ligament

Ligament

In anatomy, the term ligament is used to denote any of three types of structures. Most commonly, it refers to fibrous tissue that connects bones to other bones and is also known as articular ligament, articular larua, fibrous ligament, or true ligament.Ligament can also refer to:* Peritoneal...

sprain

Sprain

A sprain is an injury in a joint, caused by the ligament being stretched beyond its capacity. A muscular tear caused in the same manner is referred to as a strain. In cases where either ligament or muscle tissue is torn, immobilization and surgical repair may be necessary...

is a small tear of ligament tissue. The body’s response to these sports injuries is the same in the initial five day period immediately following the traumatic incident – inflammation.

Signs and symptoms

Inflammation is characterized by pain, localized swelling, heat, redness and a loss of function.

Mechanism

All of these traumatic injuries cause damage to the cells that make up the soft tissues. The dead and damaged cells release chemicals, which initiate an inflammatory response. Small blood vessels are damaged and opened up, producing bleeding within the tissue. In the body’s normal reaction, a small blood clot is formed in order to stop this bleeding and from this clot special cells (called fibroblasts) begin the healing process by laying down scar tissue.

The inflammatory stage is therefore the first phase of healing. However, too much of an inflammatory response in the early stage can mean that the healing process takes longer and a return to activity is delayed. The sports injury treatments are intended to minimize the inflammatory phase of an injury, so that the overall healing process is accelerated. intrinsic and extrinsic factors

Prevention

A warm-up

Warming up

A warm-up is usually performed before participating in technical sports or exercising. A warm-up generally consists of a gradual increase in intensity in physical activity , a joint mobility exercise, stretching and a sport related activity. For example, before running or playing an intense sport...

program has been founded to decrease injuries in association football. Many athletes will partake in HGH Treatment for Athletic Enhancement

HGH treatment for athletic enhancement

Growth hormone in sports refers to the use of human growth hormones for athletic enhancement, as opposed to growth hormone treatment for medical therapy. Use for this purpose is illegal in most jurisdictions, including the United States of America and Europe....

as a way to prevent injuries.

Injury can be minimalised by doing an effective warm up, this consists of a heart raiser to get your pulse up, followed by sport specific dynamic stretches (stretches whilst moving).
To reduce the risk of injury:

Time off. Plan to have at least 1 day off per week form a particular sport to allow the body to recover.

Wear the right gear. Players should wear appropriate and properly fit protective equipment such as pads (neck, shoulder, elbow, chest, knee, shin), helmets, mouthpieces, face guards, protective cups, and/or eyewear. Young athletes should not assume that protective gear will protect them from performing more dangerous or risky activities.

Strengthen muscles. Conditioning exercises before games and during practice strengthens muscles used in play.

Increase flexibility. Stretching exercises before and after games or practice can increase flexibility.

Use the proper technique. This should be reinforced during the playing season.

Take breaks. Rest periods during practice and games can reduce injuries and prevent heat illness

Heat illness

Heat illness or heat-related illness is a spectrum of disorders due to environmental heat exposure. It includes minor conditions such as heat cramps, heat syncope, and heat exhaustion as well as the more severe condition known as heat stroke....

.

Play safe. Strict rules against headfirst sliding (baseball and softball), spearing (football), and body checking (ice hockey) should be enforced.

Stop the activity if there is pain.
Avoid heat injury by drinking plenty of fluids before, during and after exercise or play; decrease or stop practices or competitions during high heat/humidity periods; wear light clothing.

Sports-Related Emotional Stress

The pressure to win can cause significant emotional stress for a child. Sadly, many coaches and parents consider winning the most important aspect of sports. Young athletes should be judged on effort, sportsmanship and hard work. They should be rewarded for trying hard and for improving their skills rather than punished or criticized for losing a game or competition.
Using proper equipment is key in preventing injury. The NFL is conducting tests with new helmet designs that could reduce the number of head injuries in the league.

Doctors believe fatigue can be a contributing factor in sports injuries because it is more difficult for the body to protect itself when fatigued. Stopping an activity at the first sign of fatigue can prevent sports related injuries.

Treatment

Sports injuries can be treated and managed by using the P.R.I.C.E.S... DR. ABC, and T.O.T.A.P.S regimes:
P – Protect
R – Rest
I – Ice
C – Compression
E – Elevation
S - Stabilize

D – Danger
R – Response

A – Airway
B – Breathing
C – Circulation

T – Talk
O – Observe
T – Touch
A – Active movement
P – Passive movement
S – Skills test

The primary inflammatory stage typically lasts around 5 days and all treatment during this time is designed to address the cardinal signs of inflammation – pain, swelling, redness, heat and a loss of function.

Compression sportswear

Compression sportswear

Compression sportswear is clothing usually worn by athletes. They may be shorts, tights or underwear. They are form-fitting garments and when worn cover the athlete's waist to mid or lower thigh...

is becoming very popular with both professional and amateur athletes. These garments are thought to both reduce the risk of muscle injury and speed up muscle recovery.

Although not proven some professional athletes use hyperbaric chambers to speed healing. Hines Ward of the Steelers sent his personal hyperbaric chamber,(similar to the one pictured), to his hotel to sleep in believing it would help heal his sprained medial collateral ligament he suffered in their playoff win against the Ravens. Hines went on to play in Super Bowl XLIII.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.