Suppose you are considering participating in one or more sports. In that case, you are certainly on the right track, as this is a fantastic idea. Taking part in regular games is essential to healthy living and an active lifestyle. Sports performance ensures good heart health, optimal lung health, muscle building, and strength maintenance.

In an ideal world, only positive outcomes of participating in various sports can happen, but this is not an ideal world.

Here, people might move in the wrong direction, trip, fall, make incidental contact with the ground, with other players, and meet sports injuries. 

As often said, the risk of injury should not deter your performance in sports.

Still, aware of the possible sports injuries, you can take possible preventive measures, prevent them, and primarily minimize your risk of getting hurt or falling. 

Let’s look at the most common sports injuries and the preventive measures against them.

• Most sports injuries occur in practice rather than during actual games.
• High school athletes suffer about 2 million injuries each year.
• Female athletes are up to six times more likely to suffer ACL injuries than males.
• Overuse injuries account for nearly 50% of all sports injuries in middle and high school students.
• Soccer players are more prone to ankle sprains than any other type of sports injury.
• Concussions can occur in almost any sport, not just contact sports like football or hockey.
• Wearing the wrong type of footwear significantly increases the risk of foot and ankle injuries.

These are one of the most common athletic injuries, simply because muscles and tendons are used extensively during any game or exercise.

These moving parts are more prone to stretching and get torned, damaged and painful quickly.

Most of these strains are mild and heal naturally with rest without additional medical treatment.

However, the best preventive measure can be warm-up and stretching before strenuous physical activity.

Just like the strains, which mainly affect the muscles, sprains mainly affect ligaments. These ligaments are the tissues that attach bone to bone.

Appropriate movement of these ligaments is critical, as when they move in the wrong direction, they can be pulled or torn. Ankle sprains are closely related to knee, elbow, and wrist sprains. 

Compared to strains, sprains are more painful and take more time to heal, even sometimes requiring immobilization to prevent future injuries.

Suppose you are a sports person and have a face sprain. In that case, you can get rid of it simply by applying pre-workout warm-up, stretching, and practicing intelligent techniques in your play. 

These sprains might leave your ligaments weak and increase the risk of future sprains.

So, if you have a previous history of knee or ankle sprain, it would be a good choice for you to support the respective joint with a brace every time while playing.

This type of injury occurs because of extensive activity of the feet and legs associated with the lack of good support. Plantar Fasciitis is the inflammation of a tendon in an arch of the foot, which causes sharp and burning pain with each step.

Comparatively, shin splints are the name of inflammation in the lower leg caused by repetitive stress and high impacts of running.

It can also result from quick drops, starts, and dodging.

Both shin splints and plantar fasciitis are common in runners, joggers, soccer, and basketball players specifically. However, both can be cured simply by taking proper rest and stretching.

Your spinal column and back undergo some unusual stress whenever you play a game or exercise.

This stress prevails and changes into inflammation around the vertebrae and back muscles, leading to injuries to the disc and frequent upper and lower back pain. 

Occasionally, a sudden jarring impact may also induce acute injury to the back.

These types of injuries can make you feel uncomfortable during the play and pose trouble to the smooth play. The treatment regimens for these back injuries also vary widely.

Their treatment varies based on the person’s condition, including simple rest, physical therapy, or the ultimate surgery.

However, the best possible cure is to keep the back muscles strong and flexible with low-impact activities and warm-ups and predominantly by taking nutritious foods.

Tennis elbow, also known as tendinitis, refers to the swelling of tendons that induce pain in the arm and elbow. You can get tennis elbow anywhere out of the tennis court, by practicing any gripping activity or by the extensive use of your thumb and first two fingers.

Many people consult the physician for elbow pain, and the prime reason behind them is this tennis elbow. It can affect you at any age, specifically at the age of 40. 

In most tennis, squash, and Racquetball, players and weight lifters develop tennis elbows.

However, individuals undergoing gripping activities like raking, knitting, and painting may also develop this injury.

Its treatment is quite simple. Like icing, the elbow can reduce the pain and swelling in it. Still, it should be applied for about 20 to 30 minutes after doing 3 to 4 hours of physical activity. 

Using an elbow strap can prevent you from future elbow injuries.

Moreover, you can take non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen, aspirin, and naproxen for instant relief from pain and swelling.

But always make sure to take them after getting a prescription from the general physician or physiotherapist.

It is also known as groin strain and results from extensive stress on the muscles of the groin and thigh. If these thigh muscles are tensed forcefully and suddenly, they may tear and get over-stretched.

This injury is common in those players who extensively do running and jumping activities. Groin pull most often appears in hockey, football, and hockey players. 

Groin pull exerts deep burning pain in the thigh, and based on this pain severity. There have been three stages of a groin pull introduced.

The first stage is mild pain with little or no loss of movement; the second is moderate pain with some tissue damage. The third one is severe pain and complete loss of strength and function due to tissue damage.

Implementation of some measures can help you out while preventing Groin pull. Like;

1. Warm up your legs before the start of any play. Do some light jogging that would increase the body temperature and reduce muscle strain risk. 
2. Wear tight shoes that fit well and provide you with better support. 
3. Do not practice extensive physical activity, like no more than a 10% weekly increase. Increase the levels slowly. 
4. Stop playing whenever you feel pain or discomfort in the groin or thigh. 
5. Practice regular physical activity for the thigh muscles, particularly when you have had the groin pull before.

A concussion is the name of a head injury that a sports person or athlete usually faces. It is an injury to the brain caused by a sudden blow to the head, violent shaking, or collision.

It is like traumatic brain injury, which affects the cognitive ability of the sports person. 

Repeated concussions can cause memory loss and a decline in executive functioning.

So, whenever you are exposed to a concussion during any sport, seek medical help immediately to prevent a severe cognitive decline.

Sports injuries are a significant concern in the games department. It’s a high demand to know the essentials of these injuries.

Like their major cause, effects, and the best treatment options. Knowing all these can help you overcome the damage smoothly. 

These injuries can result from many factors, like direct impact, overuse, or the application of the force beyond the body’s capacity.

Some of these include nose bleeds, bruises, sprains, and joint injuries, which need the ultimate treatment from a doctor, physiotherapist, or sports medicine clinic.

If you leave any injury untreated, you can develop severe complications.

Taking a break from your regular (and possibly beloved) activity can be challenging. But remember that ignoring a sports injury could keep you out for much longer or even prevent you from returning to your sport.

Listen to your body and seek professional assistance when necessary.