The Most Common Sports Injuries: A Quick Guide

More than 3.5 million children in the United States come to emergency rooms with sports injuries. Football and basketball generate the most injuries due to the sports’ physicality and popularity. Some 215,000 children were injured playing football, and 170,000 children were hurt playing basketball.

However, these injuries are not just happening to children. As the popularity of adult leagues continues, sports injuries inflicted on adults occur to millions of Americans each year.

Common sports injuries vary from broken bones to tennis elbows, and many of them will require hours of sports injury rehab. Both children and adults may find themselves seeking sports injury treatment to get back a full range of motion and participating in sporting events again.

In the following article, we’ll discuss the most common sports injuries and how to get back on the court.

ACL Injury

One of the most common (and painful) sports injuries is straining or tearing the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). This ligament gives your knee most of its stability. Running two hard or a swift change of movement can strain the ACL. Likewise, extending the knee or pivoting too hard on the knee can damage the ACL and even tear it.

Even a minor strain can lead to swelling and weakness in the knee.

To treat ACL damage, you may only need to take it easy and ice it. However, a severe tear may require surgery to repair the tear.

Once the surgery is complete, you’ll need physical therapy to regain mobility and build strength in the muscles around the knee.

This may call for an X-ray, like the ones available from providers like mednowurgentcare.net.

Patellofemoral Syndrome

This syndrome is characterized by damage to the knee joint and kneecap. It is different from an ACL injury in that with patellofemoral syndrome, pressure and swelling can get under the kneecap itself.

This syndrome is characterized by swelling and stiffness in the knee, forcing you to change your gate to accommodate knee flexibility.

To treat this illness, you should elevate and rest your knee. This is needed to reduce the swelling and inflammation around the kneecap. In addition, the best way to prevent patellofemoral syndrome is to strengthen the muscles in your thighs and calves. When these muscles are strong, your knee is better supported.

Strained Groin

A pulled groin muscle makes it impossible for your legs to run in concert. Also, overextending your legs or moving too quickly from side to side can cause a groin muscle to get pulled.

The only way to heal this common injury is to rest. The best way to prevent pulling a going muscle is to stretch out before physical exercise correctly and strengthen your core muscles.

Shoulder and Elbow Injuries

Overuse and pulls from a lack of regular exercise are common reasons behind shoulder and elbow tears and strains. In older Americans, shoulder and elbow injuries are common with leisure activities like golf, tennis, softball, and bowling.

You may want to consult a doctor for an anti-inflammatory prescription to treat these ailments. You’ll also need to rest the afflicted area and try a range of exercises to increase strength around the impacted area.

Common Sports Injuries Can Be Prevented

The most common sports injuries can be prevented by watching how hard you exert yourself when playing sports and training appropriately.

Remember, you need to put in a certain amount of strength and flexibility training to ensure that you are ready to play at a high level.

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