Participating in sports puts you at less risk of cardiovascular diseases, relaxes your body and mind, can help relieve chronic pain, reduces stress levels, and helps you maintain a healthy weight. However, engaging in sports can also stretch and strain your musculoskeletal system, which includes bones, ligaments, connective tissues, and tendons. If you have acute or chronic pain due to sports injury, you will require the services of the specialist at Pain & Anesthesia Care. You will require relief from pain and discomfort if you have muscle weakness, find it difficult to walk with an impaired leg, have an unstable joint, and have sensation loss in the affected limb.
Subsequently, below are common injuries that result from playing sports and often require pain relief and treatment immediately.
- Anterior cruciate ligament injury
Usually simply called an ACL injury or tear, this knee injury involves the spraining or tearing of the anterior cruciate ligament.
The anterior cruciate ligament is one of the primary ligaments that assists in stabilizing the knee joint. That ligament connects your thighbone to your shinbone.
You can injure or tear the anterior cruciate ligament when you play a sport that demands you suddenly stop and change directions. Common sports associated with ACL tears are basketball, tennis, and soccer.
- Torn meniscus
Your knee has two menisci, which are thick, crescent-shaped cartilage pads. They help reduce wear and tear on the knee cartilage and bones and guide your movement.
The meniscus is susceptible to weakening and damage when subjected to overuse or repetitive stress, particularly if you regularly play contact sports. Forcefully rotating or twisting the meniscus will cause its tear or injury.
- Golfer’s elbow
A golfer’s elbow is a painful condition affecting the tendons of forearm muscles attaching to the bony bump on your elbow’s inside. The pain and discomfort might radiate to your wrist and forearm.
Unlike the Golfer’s elbow, the tennis elbow happens outside your elbow. Still, if you play tennis, overuse your wrists, or clench your fingers regularly, you can develop a golfer’s elbow.
- Rotator cuff tears
If you have an irritated and damaged rotator cuff, you will most likely experience pain at night and when resting. A rotator cuff is a group of four muscles that promote the mobility and stability of the shoulder joint, which is the most flexible joint in your body.
A rotator cuff tear can result from an injury or degeneration.
- Labral tear
The labrum is a cartilage ring in your shoulder joint and hip. It safeguards the hip and shoulder joints against repetitive motions that cause gradual wear and tear.
The labral tear will weaken your shoulder or hip joint weak, which limits the range of motion and causes pain that usually worsens, especially when you engage in an athletic activity.
Other common sports injuries may involve dislocated joints, damaged tendons, a broken bone, and bursitis.
For instance, partial or complete bone fractures in athletes engaging in contact sports often affect hands, wrists, ankles, feet, and collarbone. On the other hand, bursitis is the irritation and inflammation of the small, fluid-filled pads or sacs cushioning your joints.