Common sports injuries

Sport and exercise bring plenty of good things, and occasionally an injury. Most are the familiar kind: a turned ankle, a pulled hamstring, a sore shoulder after a new routine. This page explains how sports injuries are usually grouped, what the common ones are called, and what tends to raise the risk of getting hurt.

Not only for athletes

The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, in its overview of sports injuries, explains that the term refers to the kinds of injury that most commonly happen during sport or exercise, but that they are not limited to athletes. Its examples are factory workers who get tennis elbow, painters who get shoulder injuries and gardeners who develop tendinitis. The same kinds of injury can happen to anyone whose body is asked to do more than it is ready for, at work, at home or on the field.

NIAMS also puts the risk in context: while injuries do sometimes happen during sport and exercise, it says most physical activity is safe for almost everyone and that the health and social benefits far outweigh the risks.

Acute and overuse injuries

Sports injuries are usually sorted into two broad groups.

• Acute injuries happen suddenly. NIAMS gives the examples of falling, receiving a blow, or twisting a joint. A sprained ankle from landing awkwardly, a strained calf when sprinting for a ball, or a bruise from a collision are all acute.
• Overuse injuries, sometimes called chronic injuries, build up gradually. NIAMS describes them as usually resulting from overuse of one area of the body, or repetitive overload. The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, in its OrthoInfo page on sprains, strains and other soft-tissue injuries, explains that they occur when an activity is repeated so often that the soft tissues do not have enough time to recover before they are put under stress again. Tendinitis and bursitis are typical examples.

NIAMS notes that the two can be linked: wear and tear from an overuse injury can sometimes set the stage for an acute one.

The common kinds of injury

MedlinePlus, in its overview of sports injuries, lists the most common as sprains and strains, knee injuries, swollen muscles, Achilles tendon injuries, pain along the shin bone, rotator cuff injuries, fractures and dislocations. NIAMS explains several of these terms:

• Sprain — a stretch or tear of a ligament, the band of tissue that joins one bone to another at a joint.
• Strain — a twist, pull or tear of a muscle or tendon, or of the point where they meet.
• Tendinitis — inflammation of a tendon, which usually comes from repeating the same motion over and over.
• Bursitis — inflammation of a bursa, one of the small fluid-filled sacs that cushion moving parts around a joint.
• Fracture — a break in a bone, either from a single impact or, as a stress fracture, from repeated impact.
• Dislocation — when the bones that form a joint are forced completely apart.

The sprains and strains page explains the most common of these in more detail.

What raises the risk

NIAMS lists a number of factors that can increase the chance of a sports injury, including:

• not using the correct technique for an exercise;
• overtraining, by training too often or for too long;
• increasing the intensity of activity too quickly;
• playing the same sport all year round;
• running or jumping on hard surfaces;
• shoes without enough support, or not wearing the proper equipment;
• a previous injury;
• poor flexibility.

MedlinePlus adds accidents, poor training practices, improper gear, not being in shape, and not warming up or stretching enough. The lowering the risk page looks at the everyday habits people build around these points.

When an injury happens

MedlinePlus's first advice is simple: if you get hurt, stop playing, because continuing to play or exercise can cause more harm. It describes treatment as often beginning with rest, ice, compression and elevation, a sequence usually shortened to RICE, and notes that other treatments are possible depending on the injury. NIAMS adds that for severe injuries you will need to see a health care provider, who may recommend a course of physical therapy.

A few signs suggest an injury is more than a minor sprain or strain: being unable to put weight on a leg or use an arm, a joint that looks misshapen or feels unstable, severe pain or swelling, numbness, or pain that does not ease with rest. A blow to the head or neck during sport is a separate matter again and should always be checked.

Coming back

Returning to sport after an injury is usually a gradual process, guided by how the injured area feels and, for anything more than a minor knock, by a health care provider or physical therapist who knows the injury. The how soft tissue heals page describes, in general terms, what injured muscles, tendons and ligaments go through as they repair.