Injuries in sports occur a lot more often than imagined. I chose to take this class because I wanted to learn more about the causes of these injuries, and how to prevent them for myself on the lacrosse field. When it comes to sports injuries, there are several ways to prevent them and make them heal faster, they are not just random. A belief of mine is if you take the right care of yourself and know what you’re doing, then there is a slim chance to experience these injuries.
First things first: preventing these injuries with food. Staying hydrated is key and will make you feel not sluggish and well energized. Athletes who have a healthy diet, perform exceedingly better than an athlete who has a poor diet. A proper diet is very important. A good diet includes protein, Vitamin C, and fiber rich foods. Loading up on carbs before a game helps. All the carbohydrates turn into energy on the field. Taking in that many carbs is not healthy if no exercise is happening.
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Preventing sports injuries includes physically taking care of your body and not putting too much stress on it. A great part to this is not taking too much on that your body can’t handle. Exercise is great, but overdoing it can lead to serious issues. An athlete should have one rest day per week to let their body recover for the next week to come. Also, players in whatever sport it is, should always have the proper gear on. Athlete’s should also continue to strengthen muscles, such as continuing to work the muscles being used in the sport. Stretching plays a huge role in sports injuries. Stretching before and after exercise is a must. Stretching out your muscles before also leaves players less sore after practice or a game. If they are not properly stretched, that can lead to pulled muscles, and pain.
Alongside stretching, technique can greatly prevent from getting hurt. If an athlete is doing a certain movement wrong over and over again, it will hurt their body greatly. In basketball, a player lands the wrong way from jumping, there is a good possibility for an ankle injury. When playing in a game, proper gear should always be worn.
When trying to prevent sports injuries, a question asked is, what even causes them? There are many causes for these injuries including, poorly trained practices, wearing not proper gear, poor warm-up before a game or practice, and not being in good health. Preventing any sport injury is important, some players never recover. An example of one player would be Bo Jackson. He was an NFL running back from 1987 to 1990. This man was also an MLB player. People say he’s the most well-rounded athlete.
His football career ended in the blink of an eye. During one game during a tackle, he tried pulling his leg away, and caused a serious injury to his hip. Injuries to athletes are nothing to mess with. For some people, that is their whole life. It can all end in a second. Taking the precautions and treating their own body right can do a lot. By listening and being in tune with your body, you have to stop when it wants you to. Being in pain and continuing playing can lead to worse injuries in the future.
The most common sport that players get injured is football. Studies found and are continuing to find in deceased football players very bad cases of CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy). These athletes are not just in the professional leagues. There are many other common injuries among other sports.
One injury seen in a lot of athletes is shin splints. This is pain in the lower leg. Shin splints are most common in runners and soccer players. It is treated by resting the leg, icing, and slowly getting back to running again. During recovery, getting the right shoes with good arch support helps. Some chose to seek physical therapy, but it is not needed. A physical therapist will give a home exercise. These exercises will prevent the shin splints from happening as much or not at all.
Another injury is concussions, which is an injury to the brain. This is when an athlete gets a hit to the head and the brain is shaken. Symptoms for this are headaches, nausea, dizziness, and sensitivity to light. Recovery for concussions are rest, less exercise, then when feeling better, slowly increase physical activity again. If it is severe, physical therapy is advised to help the player recover faster. Physical therapists will do an impact test and other concussion tests to see exactly how severe it is. They will check your balance, hoe your eyes are moving, and neck mobility.
Shoulder injuries are seen a lot in sports. They are mostly caused by not having enough flexibility or strength. Recovery includes resting and icing. This injury can also receive physical therapy help. They will focus on restoring muscle balance and controlling inflammation. Lastly, ACL injuries, caused by slowing down too soon, and trying to change direction. When the ACL is injured, ligaments are being torn, which can be traumatizing. There are ways to prevent this such as agility training, strengthening your core, and doing jumping and pivoting activities. If it is torn, surgery is required. This injury takes a long time to recover, and needs physical therapy. The physical therapist’s main goal is to decrease the inflammation and stiffness. They recommend to go twelve weeks without exercise.
The ACL being torn has effected too many great players and have changed lives. The mental toll it puts on them is unexplainable. Some take it very hard, and others use their experience and knowledge to help others and make them to mentally and physically be the best athlete possible.
Overall, sports injuries are not something to be taken lightly. They should constantly be worked on being prevented. One injury not properly healed can affect an athlete forever. An athlete taking care of their body and giving it the right things it needs, will continuously make them play healthier and injury free!
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