Sports Injuries – Types, Symptoms, Treatment & Prevention

There are a number of reasons why many of us choose to participate in sports or some form of recreational activity. One primary source of motivation is the burst of happiness that we experience both during an after we exert ourselves. This occurs in part because our activity has unleashed brain chemicals that increase our level of happiness while simultaneously reducing or completely eliminating our level of stress.

Consistent involvement in sports or recreational endeavors can also help you sleep while boosting your chances of maintaining your desired weight. Sports can also instill self-confidence, which can be beneficial as you progress through all facets of your life.

Of course, our efforts to challenge ourselves physically can sometimes result in injury. Especially if our activity involves contact. and a consistently high level of exertion such as football, hockey, gymnastics, or volleyball.

Sports Injuries

Some of the more frequent sports injuries include sprains, strains, tears, dislocations, fractures, and concussions, and the most specific list of common issues includes:

• • Ankle Sprains
  • Hamstring Sprains
  • Torn ligaments in the knee
  • Shin splints
  • Groin pulls
  • Fractures
  • Weight lifter’s shoulders
  • Rotator cuff tears
  • Meniscal injuries and tears
  • Sprains and strains
  • Tendinitis
  • Dislocations
  • Concussions
  • Labral Tears
  • Tennis elbow

Symptoms

The seriousness of sports injuries can vary depending upon the specific nature of your injury, as some issues might be problematic for a short period of time, while others can persist far longer than you would prefer. While severe pain is often the first indication that you may have experienced a sports-related injury, other frequent symptoms include swelling, tenderness in your joints, and a decrease in your mobility.

If you engage in the same type of exercise with high regularity such as running, swimming, or any other type of activity that requires you to repeat the same motion with great frequency, then your symptoms might reappear during your workouts, and could also linger afterward.

Other Injuries That Can Be Treated Through Sports Medicine    

But you don’t have to be a highly competitive athlete to suffer an injury, as these can occur if you are among the proverbial weekend warriors, or if you engage in more casual recreational activities. The most common workout injuries include sprained ankles, knee injuries, shoulder injuries, muscle pulls, shin splints, tendinitis, and sprained wrists.

Fortunately, you can also receive assistance from physicians that are well-informed on sports therapy treatment options that pertain to musculoskeletal medicine. Even though most sports injuries will not lead to surgery, it should relieve any concerns to know that the experience and expertise of orthopedic surgeons will also guide you to a full recovery, so that you can feel better and resume the level of activity that you prefer. This is not only beneficial if you suddenly suffer an injury, but also if you are dealing with discomfort from repetitive use of any particular area within our body.

What You Can Do To Reduce Your Chances Of Injuries

First, it is always wise to warm-up prior to beginning your workouts, because this allows you to loosen up your joints and muscles, while steadily increasing your heart rate. It is equally important to make sure that you cool down near the conclusion of your workouts, as this will help your heart gradually return to its normal rate.

In many cases, it is wise to change your workouts, as opposed to consistently executing the same movements. This will help reduce your chances of having an issue due to repetitive motion. Also, it is important to make sure that your workout gear always fits properly. This is particularly true if your shoes do not fit adequately.

If you have not been exercising regularly and are planning to begin doing so, it is helpful to discuss this with your doctor, as he or she will be well versed regarding your specific health history. You can also consult a professional trainer before you attempt any new exercise, in order to ensure that you are undertaking your workouts properly. Even if you have already begun an exercise regimen, having a trainer review your activity to verify that you are using the proper form can be very useful toward protecting you from a health issue.

Orthopedic Associates Is Ready To Help You

If you are dealing with pain that has resulted from participating in sports, recreational activities, your personal workouts, or an accident that occurred at home or at work, our team of dedicated professionals at Orthopedic Associates will help you recover, regardless of your specific injury. Our all-inclusive end-to-end care includes board-certified doctors that have a combined 183 years of experience, which includes physicians that specialize in each area of the body where you might have encountered a problem

While it may be tempting to “work through” the pain of a sports injury, doing so may simply be extending the amount of time that you are contending with discomfort, while also placing you at risk to experience even more damage that can create an even larger problem. But if you contact our specialists at Orthopedic Associates, we can assess your unique situation and present all of the options.

Our services include a full spectrum of musculoskeletal care with in-house physical sports therapy, which contains 5,500 square feet that are fully dedicated to delivering the effective therapy that you need in order to have a long-lasting recovery. Our state-of-the-art technology also includes digital imaging, and an open MRI, in order to help maintain a high level of convenience for our patients.

This also applies to our on-site surgical center. We certainly hope that you will never require surgery. But anytime that it becomes your best option, you can be confident that it will be just one element of your most effective plan for treatment and rehabilitation. Any surgery will be completed by using our specialized equipment and advanced technology at our surgical facilities, which are conveniently located at our two locations.

Your out-patient experience includes our operating rooms with preoperative and recovery bays, along with two private recovery rooms which enable us to provide you with outstanding care throughout the entire process. At Orthopedic Associates, we will also guide you through the remaining portion of the process during your follow-up visits, in order to help you achieve long-term improvement.

You can also be confident that we will relieve your pain, help you regain your range of motion, and help protect you from a reoccurrence, as our staff is dedicated to helping you experience a successful recovery regardless of your injury, illness or accident that created your personal health challenge. As a result, our all-inclusive end to end care begins the moment that you contact us, and continues through diagnosis, in-house physical therapy or surgery, and the ongoing management of your situation.

Some of the more common sports injuries that we treat at Orthopedic Associates include:

• ACL Tears
• Fractures
• Weight lifter’s shoulders
• Rotator cuff tears
• Meniscal injuries and tears
• Sprains and strains
• Tendinitis
• Dislocations
• Labral Tears
• Minor injuries like bruises, muscle cramps, pain, and shin splints

We can also provide assistance beyond our Sports Medicine expertise, as part of our all-inclusive orthopedic services at both of our Orthopedic Associates locations. Contact us today to begin your path to a pain-free life.