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SPORTS INJURIES
By Aiden Woods MISCP
Oct 20, 2006
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| Soccer: traumatic injury |
Traumatic Injuries: These occur when direct trauma is applied to a part of the body e.g. falling off a bicycle and breaking an arm, getting a kick on the leg while playing football, twisting an ankle while running. In most instances there is very little an athlete can do to prevent these. Recovery time is based on the severity of the trauma and how the injury is managed. For this reason it is essential to get an accurate diagnosis from an experienced professional. The professional can then advise you on how the injury should be managed and how best to return to your chosen sport.
Overuse Injuries: These are injuries caused by an athlete placing excessive stresses on the body. They can generally be prevented and if not properly diagnosed and managed they can lead to prolonged periods off training and competition. There are many reasons for overuse injuries occurring:
Training volume and intensity: Too rapid an increase in the volume or intensity an athlete is training at. This is self explanatory and one of the most common reasons an athlete will present with injury, for example a runner goes from running 5 mile 5 times a week to running 10 mile 5 times a week. This represents a 100% increase in volume in one week and will most likely lead to injury. Another example would be a runner who goes from running 5 miles 5 times a week at 130 heart rate to running 5 miles 5 times a week at 180 heart rate. This represents a large increase in intensity and predisposes to injury.
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| Good nutrition is important |
Poor sociological circumstances: There are several things that an athlete or any human being cannot survive with out. These include food, water and sleep. An athlete who does not get appropriate amounts of food, water and sleep is leaving themselves more open to injury. It is up to each athlete to find out what amounts of each work best for themselves. Changes in lifestyle, climate and training will alter the amounts of food, water and sleep needed. Changes in the amount of food, water and sleep you are getting will subsequently alter the amount of training you are able to do.
Physical Weaknesses: Almost every athlete will have areas of physical weakness, which will make them more prone to getting injured. Their physical weakness may be an area of previous injury or an area of natural biomechanical weakness e.g. a runner with bowlegs, a rower with a torn disc in their back. Athletes should liase with a chartered physiotherapist regarding ways of identifying and managing areas of physical weakness.
Psychological Weaknesses: Every athlete knows the importance of psychology for performance. It is also a vitally important area in injury. In my opinion athletes who are under psychological stress for whatever reason e.g. relationship problems, exam stress, bullying etc are more likely to get injured. Sports psychologists can be used to identify reasons and establish management plans for psychological stresses.
Medical Weaknesses: Again this is another very obvious area that can lead to injury. An athlete who is medically unwell is more likely to pick up an injury if they don’t modify their training appropriately. For this reason it is vital to work with a good sports medicine doctor.
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| Crash during bicycle race |
And the answer to avoiding injury and staying healthy: In my opinion the answer to this is to find a good coach. A good coach will be able to train an athlete to appropriate limits taking into account changes in an athletes social, physical, psychological, and medical circumstances. A good coach will also have the support personnel around them and know when it’s appropriate to use them.
Aidan Woods
MISCP
AIDEN WOODS: Aiden is a Chartered Physiotherapist with a particular interest in sports injuries. He was the Physiotherapist to the Irish team for the Athens Olympics in 2004. He practises in Dublin. Queries to info@pearsestreetphysio.com
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- Updated: Oct 3rd, 2007 - 16:54:37
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