Tips for Overcoming Sports Injuries

Posted on Feb 22, 2011 in Health & Fitness | 0 comments

By: Matt Yost, ACSM HFS, BS Exercise Science

As someone who has experienced and overcome many injuries from sports I would consider somewhat credible in this topic.  I have been the victim to a number of injuries ranging from iliotibial band syndrome (knee pain) to tennis elbow to plantar fasciitis in both feet (heel pain) to hamstring tears to ankle surgery.  As a competitive athlete for most of my life I have put my body through the rigors of training and competition.  Through those rigors my body has endured several injuries, some minor and some major.  An injury is simply a set back, not an end all.  It’s a new challenge.  It’s a new hurdle to overcome.  It’s not the end.  Yes, you may have to adjust your workout routine or you may have to take complete rest, but you’re never out of the game for good.  An injury is a problem and we have to fix it.

Whether you consider yourself an athlete or a weekend warrior who loves to mix it up with some competitive pick-up ball or flag football, injuries are pretty much inevitable at some point.  For someone who just lost a ton of weight from exercise, for someone who loves to be outside playing sports, for someone who finally got into the rhythm of a solid exercise routine, an injury can put a stop to it all.  An injury is a way our body tells us something went wrong and the body did not function the way it was meant to.  These injuries can be the result of an obvious single incident such as an ankle sprain or a not-so-obvious condition/injury that gradually worsens over time such as patella tendonitis.  Whatever the case, you are now experiencing pain that you have never felt before, aka: your body is telling you something is not functioning properly.  Depending on the severity of the pain you can choose to ignore it and hope it goes away, take time to rest and hope it goes away, change the mode of exercise and hope the pain goes away, or take an active approach at targeting the pain.  For those experiencing a severe injury such as a break, severe sprain or tear, spinal injury, etc the last option is usually the best option.  The initial approach to such injuries is either rest with some kind or brace or cast, or surgical intervention.  The R.I.C.E. protocol is widely accepted and generally used for all sports injuries.  R.I.C.E. is defined as:

Rest: Rest is very important to avoid reinjury of the injured area and allow the body the energy needed to repair the injured tissues.

Ice: Along with rest ice is applied to the injured area immediately to control inflammation and help ease the pain.  Ice packs, crushed ice, or frozen peas should be wrapped in a thin towel and applied to the injured area for no more than 20 minutes at a time.  Reapplication can occur only after the skin has had to time to fully rewarm.

Compression: Placing the injured area in compression will help reduce swelling and pain.  Simply wrapping the injured area with an ace bandage or some type of compression sleeve or sock without cutting off blood flow can accomplish this task.  Be sure you can still feel a pulse distally from where the injury is located.

Elevation: Elevating the injured area is also helpful in reducing the amount of swelling.  Elevating the area above the heart is the best approach.

For pain that is more subtle or keeps getting worse, but still allows you to keep going for now, ignoring the pain or just taking some rest is probably what most of us tend to do.  Although your pain may eventually go away you never tackled the true nature of WHY you were hurting in the first place.  Was it just muscle soreness from increasing your exercise workload and intensity too quickly or was it truly a biomechanical issue that should have been addressed at the onset and may cause your body more harm in the future?

Pain that is localized, sharp, burning, shooting, throbbing, and continues to worsen or stay the same are all indicators that something needs to be addressed.  I am a firm believer that you need to stop and identify the cause of the problem.  Go ahead and tackle the injury at the first onset of pain by following the R.I.C.E. protocol.  Keep repeating the R.I.C.E protocol for days, weeks, or months until the pain goes away.  While you let the injury heal start to figure out what triggered or caused your injury.  It may be best to visit a sports medicine doctor for professional advice and a diagnosis of the injury.  With a proper diagnosis you can be given a good time frame for how long to rest or continue modified activity.  The doctor can also prescribe corrective exercises for you to follow or refer you to physical therapy.  Physical therapy will help with the healing and also help to fix any biomechanical problems.  A physical therapy practice that specializes in sports performance may be your best option in dealing with a specific sports injury.  A proper evaluation of the body and the body in motion will be given and then a rehabilitation program will be prescribed with proper corrective exercises.  The following are common problems that reveal the true nature of an injury.  A good rehab program will focus on one or more of these problems that lead to injuries:

• Muscular weakness/imbalance
• Muscular tightness
• Unstable joints/overstretched ligaments
• Micro tears in the muscle due to overloading the muscle (eccentric loading)
• Weak connective tissues (ligaments and tendons)
• Overuse/compensatory muscles
• Weak back/core muscles
• Improper mechanics with lifting, running, and sports movements

An injury can certainly put a hold on your fitness goals.  However, the injury may have just been the final straw in poor biomechanics or another issue from the above list and now you have the opportunity to focus on the area of weakness and come back stronger than ever.  You have to have a positive outlook when dealing with a debilitating injury otherwise it has the potential to eat away at you mentally.  The energy you used to spend in activity and exercise has to be rechanneled elsewhere.  You have to refocus your fitness goals to just getting healed.  Just like losing weight you can’t cheat and you can’t expect a quick and easy fix.  Just like losing weight it will take effort and patience.  The effort will be less of physical strength and endurance and more of initiative in seeking professional medical help and sticking to a rehab program.  Your mental toughness will also be tested as you may have the desire to do too much too soon.  This can be a detrimental mistake and instead of taking two steps forward you take two steps backwards.  Listen to your body.  The little aches and pains we so often ignore is our body’s way of trying to tell us something.  Coming back from an injury can give you new insights and a fresh outlook on your fitness goals.  You will be physically and mentally ready to for the next phase of training.  Once you are back in the game keep up a well rounded fitness and nutrition lifestyle that will help prevent future injuries.  Keep these tips in mind:

• SLEEP!  Body heals naturally when you sleep.  At least 8 hours a night.
• Balanced nutrition.   Pre workout.  Post workout.  Fruits, veggies, protein. Fuel the body.
• Drink plenty of water.  Dehydrated muscles are more susceptible to injury.
• Work on form.  Correct running and lifting put correct forces on the correct muscles.
• Warm-up, cool down!  Warming up the muscles before activity is very important.
• Flexibility.  Flexible muscles are less likely to strain.
• Cross train.  Mixing up your workouts keep you from muscle overuse.
• Know the difference between good pain (soreness) and bad pain (sharp, constant)

Take at least one day a week off completely.