Injury Recovery and Prevention. ~Joshua Bowen

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1 Injury Recovery and Prevention ~Joshua Bowen

2 Injury and Warming up Playing sports as an athlete competitively or just for fun can often lend itself to injuries, sometimes minor and sometimes serious. Like anything, it's a risk and can often lend one to injury. Injury is difficult if you're passionate about your sport and want to continue to play. There are ways to better prevent injuries for athletes and keep them healthy. Likewise there are ways to heal injuries quicker and keep them from happening again. Injury can occur in many sports or intense physical activity such as basketball, baseball, football, hockey, weight training etc. It is of course extremely important to warm up. One should prepare the body for exercises by gradually increasing the heart rate and circulation. Doing this can be achieved with a combination of cardiovascular exercises, stretching and strength drills. The cardiovascular exercises are designed to increases circulation by pumping blood through the body and to the muscles, increasing body temperature, and bringing the heart rate up. Stretching will warm the muscles and prepare them for the movements required for the activity. Sprints or jumping may be included in explosive strength exercises. Using this in your warmups and gently increasing the level of intensity can prepare your body for sudden movements in the sport or activity for which one is preparing. Most good warm up sessions

3 will last 20 to 30 minutes to give the body lots of time to prepare for physical activity and stress. Allowing the body to prepare steadily and safely will stave off overuse injuries, this keeps the muscles warm and will prevent acute injuries such as hamstring strains. In more static sports or long breaks in training it is smart to stretch throughout allowing the muscles to function effectively. Stretching Stretching, although not the means to an end of injury, can be an important part of maintaining a healthy mobile body for any athlete. Stretching and flexibility training is much like strength training in that it will prevent injuries and make one a better athlete. An athlete is assessed for weaknesses, imbalances, and areas of their performance that need improvement when designing a strength training program. A program is then designed that works to improve these areas. The outcome of this is improved performance in sports, and in the real world, resulting in a reduction in injury. The same approach is taken in stretching and flexibility training. An athlete is assessed for weaknesses and imbalances in performance where flexibility is important. Flexibility training is then applied over the long term. As an athlete's flexibility improves, their performance and resilience to injury should follow. Diligently applying flexibility training over an extended period of time is the only way to

4 acquire the benefits, and will help prevent sports injuries when used correctly. With consistency, in a few months one will acquire a greater range of motion (ROM), feel more relaxed and fluid, and be less susceptible to muscle strains and pulls. Passive stretching, also referred to as relaxed stretching, is a great stretching technique to increase range of motion. Passive stretch is where you assume a position and hold it with some part of your body or another apparatus. The splits is an example of a passive stretch. In this case the floor is what you are using to maintain your extended position. Slow relaxed stretching is useful for relieving spasms in muscles and also good for cooling down after a workout and helps reduce post workout muscle fatigue and soreness. Sprains and Strains The most common sports injuries are strains and sprains. Sprains are injuries to ligaments which are the tough bands connecting bones to a joint. Tears or deformities can occur when suddenly stretching ligaments past their limits. Strains, also called pulled muscles, are injuries to muscle fibers or tendons, which anchor muscle to bone. Tears in muscle fibers or tendons are caused from over stretching or overusing a muscle. William Roberts MD. sports medicine physician at the University of Minnesota and spokesman for the American College of Sports Medicine says, Think of muscle tendon units like springs. The tissue lengthens with stress and returns to its normal length -

5 unless it is pulled too far out of its normal range. Controlling sports injuries as an athlete is beyond us, but many times they are still preventable. Earlier I wrote about the importance of warming up. This is a crucial part of preventing these common injuries. Getting warm and increasing blood to the muscle gets you flexible which allows for less a chance of our ligaments and tendons to be stretched or pulled past their limits like William Roberts talked about. Common Injuries Humans are however not bullet proof and an injury can occur even with all preventative measures equipped. Most common sports injuries may take months to heal, even with good treatment. There are still ways to treat common sports injuries and make recovery quicker so one can be back to their optimal level of performance. A few are more common than others along with their ways to help speed recovery. Ankle Injury An ankle sprain is an injury most athletes have fallen victim to. It typically occurs when the foot is turned inward too far. The turning stretches or tears the ligaments on the outside of the ankle which are relatively weak. Maintaining strength and flexibility through exercise is important and can prevent re-injury. When rehabbing an ankle injury range of motion (ROM) exercises are important for flexibility and encourages ankle movement in all direction. An

6 example would be to trace the alphabet with the toe which is perfect for movement in all directions. Another is to keep the foot flat on the ground and move your knee back and forth for 2 to 3 minutes. These ROM exercises can be done within the first 72 hours of the injury. After this, one can continue with further rehab using strength focused exercises and stretching. Groin injury Groin pulls are another injury that occurs quite often in sports, especially in hockey, football and baseball. This is because pushing off in a side to side motion causes strain of the inner thigh muscles. To heal most groin injuries, compression, ice, and rest will do the trick. Do not return to full activity too quickly. It can aggravate a groin pull and turn it into a long term problem. Hamstring Injury Hamstring strains are a more serious injury because of the time it can take to heal. Walking applies constant stress to the injured tissue making the healing process up to 6 to 12 months. Staying inactive for that long is difficult for most people resulting in re-injury. Four muscles in the back of the thigh make up the hamstring and it can be over stretched from movements such as running, jumping, and or sudden stopping and starting. Tight quadriceps can pull your pelvis forward and tighten your hamstrings. This is a good example of the

7 importance of finding balances in the body and using flexibility training to fix them. R.I.C.E. After a hamstring strain or most strains and sprains for that matter, the RICE protocol can be an important part of the process in speeding recovering by keeping the injured muscle safe. RICE is an acronym for rest, ice, compression, and elevation. To rest means to protect the injured or sore area by stopping or taking a break from activity that may be causing pain or additional soreness. To ice means to apply cold to the area in order to reduce pain and swelling. Never apply ice directly to skin but instead wrap it in a towel first. Apply ice immediately after injury to prevent or reduce swelling. Apply ice 10 to 20 minutes about 3 times a day. To compress means to wrap an injured or sore area with an elastic bandage in order to help decrease swelling. Wrapping the area too tightly however can cause more swelling. Signs that wrap is too tight include swelling in the area below the bandage, increased pain, numbness, tingling, and coolness. To elevate means to raise the injured area by propping it up on some pillows anytime you are sitting or lying down or applying ice. Keep the area above the level of your heart to minimize swelling.

8 Shin Splints Shin splints are a very common injury that isn't too serious. Shin splints result in pains shooting down the front of the lower leg. Running often causes shin splints, especially long distance running on paved roads. Just like muscles need to rest and rebuild and get stronger, so do bones. Not resting enough between long hard runs can cause shin splints which can eventually turn into stress fractures. Bones need time to recover and rest is the best answer to this issue. Patellofemoral syndrome Patellofemoral syndrome is a knee injury that is commonly set off in sports such as running, volleyball, and basketball. It results from repetitive movement of the kneecap (patella) against the thigh bone (femur), which can damage the tissue under the kneecap. It can take up to 6 weeks for patellofemoral pain to clear up so patience is important. Continuing of low impact exercises can be important during this time. Commonly the patella tracks outward laterally so the muscles on the inside of the thigh need strengthening and the muscles on the outside of the knee usually require stretching. The muscles that would need stretching for this injury are the quadriceps, iliotibial band, and the adductors. In order to stretch the quadricep, the foot of the leg to be stretched is gently pulled up behind the body. The knees are to be kept together and the leg should

9 be pulled straight up not twisted. This stretch should be felt in the front of the athlete's leg and should not be painful. Hold this for 20 to 30 seconds 3 to 5 times. Or 2 to 3 minutes straight through. Relax and breath through the stretch. To stretch the iliotibial band an athlete would place the leg they desire to be stretched behind the the other and put their weight on that leg. Now bend downward or lean if necessary. Always ease into the stretch gently and never bounce! To stretch the long groin muscles which cross the knee joint an athlete would sit on their butt and spread there legs out as far as they could. Next they would simply fall into the middle of the pose gently while relaxing and breathing into the position. To stretch the short adductors the athlete sits on the floor with the soles of their feet pressed together. Once more the athlete will gently fall forward until a stretch is felt. Don't forget to breath! A couple exercises one could do to strengthen the desired muscles are lunges and clam. To perform the exercise clam, the athlete would lay on their side with their knees bent at a 90 degree angle and feet in line with the spine. Lift the top knee away from the bottom. The athlete should feel the butt muscle (gluteus medias) at the back, top of the hip working. Start with 10 repetitions eventually working your way up or have a partner use their hand to press down on your knee to create some resistance.

10 ACL One of the most severe injuries common in sports is an ACL tear. The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) holds the leg bone to the knee. The ACL can commonly be strained or torn from sudden cuts and stops or getting hit from the side, which most fall victim to this in sports such as football and soccer. For athletes who wish to remain physically active or play their sport again, usually they will require surgery for a completely torn ACL. Mobility is very important when working with a strained ACL and even more important after surgery from a torn ACL. These mobility movements should start within the first two weeks after surgery. Mobility exercises should never be painful to perform. Working within the pain free range of motion is important. However it is recommended to seek professional advice before attempting any ACL rehabilitation exercises. The human body is an amazing thing, capable of many great athletic feats. That however doesn t mean it s invincible. The body is still susceptible to wear, tear, and injuries. We then must make sure we are taking care of it before, during, and after training. We also must be careful and purposeful when rehabilitating it from an injury. All this is done through simple things such as efficient warm ups, stretching, finding and fixing imbalances within the body, and even proper cool downs after strenuous training. Also this is done through the more

11 frustrating tedious things such as mobility work after an injury, strengthening hurt muscles in a way that won't further injure and even using the RICE method when freshly hurt and unable to perform at the level you want in your sport. All of these steps taken can keep an athlete from injury and or help them recover faster to be back on their level of training and success.

12 REFERENCES Nadelen, Mary D. (2016). Basic Injury Prevention Concepts Walker Brad. How Does Stretching Prevent Sports Injury? Walker Brad. Stretching for Injury Rehabilitation Seltzer Charlie, MD. Pulled Muscle Treatment Guide: Recover Fast From Muscle Strain Hoffman Matthew, MD. The Seven Most Common Sports Injuries Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome Exercises