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When you play any type of sports such as football, cycling or go to the gym, your body works hard, and sometimes it complains if there’s an injury. Many people do not listen to their body and continue doing their workout at the gym or continue to play football by the time they go to sleep or the next morning they are in agony from pain in their neck, shoulder, leg or low back.
In this blog, we will look at the most common sports injuries and give you simple, honest ways to avoid them. And if you do get hurt, we will also explain how chiropractic treatment for sports injuries can help you get back on track.
The Most Common Sports Injuries
These are the injuries we see most often in our clinic:
- Sprains – when a ligament stretches or tears. Ankle sprains are the most common.
- Strains – when a muscle or tendon stretches or tears. Hamstring strains happen a lot in running and football.
- Runner’s knee – pain around the kneecap. Very common for runners and cyclists.
- Shin splints – pain along the shin bone. Common when people train too hard, too fast, or tight muscle is pulling on the tibia tuberosity causing pain.
- Tennis elbow – pain on the outside of the elbow. And no, you do not need to play tennis to get it. Any repeated arm movement can cause it.
- Golfers elbow- pain on the inside of the elbow.
These injuries share one thing: they usually happen when the body is pushed to the limit.
Why Do Sports Injuries Happen?
Most people think sport injuries will never happen to them until it does .
They are usually caused by:
- Excessive activities
- Not warming up properly
- Weak muscles
- Poor movement patterns
- Not resting enough
How to Prevent Them: Advice That Actually Works
Here are five practical tips:
1. Increase your training slowly
Try the “10% rule”: do not increase your training (distance, weight, or time) by more than 10% each week. Many injuries happen because people do not start off slowly in their activity and go to the advanced part of the sport or activity without proper training. Slow and steady wins the race.
2. Warm up properly, and cool down too
Before you train, do a light stretch for 5–10 minutes to get your blood flowing and your muscles ready. After training, let the body cool down.
3. Strengthen your muscles
Strong muscles protect your joints. If you run, strengthen your legs and core. If you play tennis or racquet ball then strengthen your shoulders, knees and arms. When your muscles are weak, your nerves, ligaments, tendons and joints will be affected.
4. Listen to your body
There is a big difference between “good pain” and “bad pain”. Good pain is muscle soreness the day after a good workout. Bad pain is when you have a sharp pain in a joint or muscle and cannot move due to pain. If it hurts, stop what you are doing in order to prevent a bigger injury. Pushing through pain is how small injuries become big injuries.
5. Rest and sleep
Your body repairs itself when you rest and sleep is when your whole body repairs itself at night during your sleep. If you never rest, your body never heals and you’re allowing for degeneration to settle into your joints. Rest days are not lazy days, they are needed.
What to Do If You Get Injured
If you get injured, do not ignore it. The sooner you act, the faster you recover. Ice can help with swelling and or pain. But if pain lasts more than a few days, or stops you from doing normal things, seek professional help. A professional practitioner can identify the cause and fix it.
How Achieve Spinal Health Can Help You
At Achieve Spinal Health, we are an osteomyology and chiropractic clinic in Kingston upon Thames. We have helped people with sports injuries for over 15 years. Our team has treated simple to complex cases.
We have over 130 five-star reviews from people in our local community, and we are proud of that. We treat every patient with quality care.
If you are looking for a sports injury chiropractor in Kingston or an osteomyologist, we would love to help you.
Our office one step away from your journey to recovery.
Conclusion
Sports injuries are common, but they are not unavoidable. Train smart, listen to your body, rest, stay hydrated, eat healthy foods and get a good night’s sleep.
If you play sport and want to stay healthy, chiropractic treatment for sports injuries can make a real difference in getting you out of pain as soon as possible. And if you need help, remember there is a sports injury chiropractor in Kingston and an osteomyologist ready to help you at Achieve Spinal Health.
Take care of your body, and it will take care of you.
