Every year, approximately 8.6 million sports injuries occur throughout the United States. Of those injuries, about 3.5 million occur in children and teens.
Are you worried about getting injured while playing sports? Are you worried about your children getting injured?
The more you know about the most common injuries, the more steps you can take to prevent those injuries from happening.
Read on to learn about five of the worst injuries in sports that an athlete can experience. You’ll also learn the best strategies you can implement to avoid them.
1. Knee Ligament Tears
Tears of the ligaments in the knees are highly common among athletes. Of all the tears, a tear of the anterior cruciate ligament (also known as the ACL) is probably the most common.
ACL tears occur often in athletes whose sports involve jumping, sudden stops, and sudden changes in direction. These sports include downhill skiing, soccer, tennis, football, basketball, gymnastics, and volleyball.
2. Stress Fractures
A stress fracture occurs when the bone sustains severe bruising or a very small crack. They often affect weight-bearing areas of the body, such as the heels or wrists.
Stress fractures might seem like minor injuries at first. They often go undiagnosed, though. This can result in them becoming larger and more severe.
Stress fractures can also cause chronic pain and inflammation when they don’t heal well.
3. Concussions
A concussion occurs when someone experiences a blow to the head and the brain gets rocked back and forth inside the skull. This rocking often results in damage to brain cells and tissues.
When they’re diagnosed early, concussions often do not cause last damage. If it’s a very severe concussion, or if treatment doesn’t get administered right away, it could result in severe damage.
Concussions are common in contact sports like football, rugby, and wrestling.
4. Patella Dislocation
Another common knee injury among athletes is a patella (or kneecap) dislocation.
Patella dislocations often occur in sports where the athlete has to change direction suddenly. Tennis players and badminton players are likely to experience these injuries, as are football players, volleyball players, and basketball players.
Repeated knee dislocations can cause chronic knee pain. If someone continuously dislocates their knee, they may require surgery to correct the issue.
5. Vertebral Fractures
A vertebral (spinal) fracture is not as common as some other sports injuries. When it does happen, though, it’s a serious matter that ought to be addressed right away.
A vertebral fracture can affect an athlete’s ability to move and function on their own. In severe cases, they can even lead to paralysis.
Vertebral fractures are common in contact sports like football and rugby. They’re one of the most serious injuries a person can experience.
How to Prevent These Injuries
These injuries are all quite serious and can have long-lasting consequences for those who experience them. The good news, though, is that there are lots of steps you can take to prevent them from happening.
The following are some helpful tips that you can apply or teach your children to apply to stay safe and avoid getting hurt:
Stay Hydrated
In order to stay clear-headed and focused while playing sports, proper hydration is key.
Make sure you’re using a good water filter when you’re filling up your water bottle before each game or practice.
According to this site, filtered water can help you stay hydrated and avoid exposure to potential toxins like heavy metals.
Warm Up Properly
A thorough warm-up is essential before any practice or game. If you participate in sports without warming up in a proper way, you’re going to be more likely to injure yourself. You also might not perform as well as you would have otherwise.
Cross-Train
Make sure your sport of choice is not your only form of activity. You can prevent a lot of sports injuries by participating in other activities like weightlifting and strengthening muscles that might not get a lot of attention.
Get Enough Rest
It’s important to get enough quality sleep each night not.
When you sleep, your body can recover from the damage the occurs during workouts, games, and practices. This will help you be more resilient to injuries.
Adequate rest will also help you to ensure you’re alert when you’re playing your sport of choice, too. This will also make it easier for you to avoid injuries.
Use the Right Equipment
Make sure you (or your children) are wearing proper equipment when participating in your sport of choice, too.
For example, if you play football, wear pads and a helmet to protect yourself. If you play soccer, wear your shin guards.
You might also need to take extra precautions. If you have injured your knee in the past, for example, you might need to wear a knee brace to protect yourself from future injuries.
Use Proper Techniques
Take the time to learn proper techniques before you go out and try to play a sport at a competitive level. Make sure your children get proper coaching, too.
The more skilled you are and the more time you take to learn the basics, the less likely you are to injure yourself. It’s not a guarantee, of course, but it can help you to avoid mistakes that lead to injuries.
Get Help Early
If you do notice that something doesn’t feel right, get checked out by a doctor right away. If you’re a parent and you notice that something seems off with your child, the same rule applies.
The sooner you get help, the sooner you can get the treatment you need and the less of a chance there is that you’ll experience long-lasting problems.
Avoid the Worst Injuries in Sports Today
There are some pretty serious injuries that athletes can experience. That doesn’t mean you or your children have to avoid playing sports, though.
You can do a lot to prevent the worst injuries in sports by taking the steps listed in this article.
Do you want to learn more about avoiding sports injuries and staying safe as an active person? If so, be sure to check out the Health and Fitness sections of our site today.
You’ll find all kinds of helpful resources here for yourself and your children.
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