Injuries in Athletics
Questions:
What injuries are most common?
Which sports have the most injuries?
Are certain injuries more common in sports?
How preventable are injuries?
What are the recovery processes for different injuries?
Has there been a growth in injury rates?
What percentage of injuries are lethal versus career ending versus common?
What is the most common muscle to be injured?
What injuries are caused by trauma versus overuse etc?
Does gender have an impact on likelihood to be injured?
What injuries are most common?
Which sports have the most injuries?
Are certain injuries more common in sports?
How preventable are injuries?
What are the recovery processes for different injuries?
Has there been a growth in injury rates?
What percentage of injuries are lethal versus career ending versus common?
What is the most common muscle to be injured?
What injuries are caused by trauma versus overuse etc?
Does gender have an impact on likelihood to be injured?
Why I'm Interested
As I've grown up I have been constantly involved in athletics. I played soccer, field hockey, basketball, lacrosse, and did gymnastics, dance, and cheerleading. Over the years I have acquired many injuries- from twisted ankles, concussions, hits requiring stitches, and many other gifts the world of athletics gives. I have always been interested in talking to my teammates and peers about their injuries and my own, so I would like to do more research on that.
Research
Work Hard. And have patience. Because no matter who you are, you're going to get hurt in your career and you have to be patient to get through the injuries.
-Randy Johnson
Most Common Sports Injuries:
- Sprains and strains
- Knee injuries
- Swollen muscles
- Achilles tendon injuries
- Pain along the shin bone/ shin splints
- Rotator cuff injuries
- Fractures
- Dislocations
Though there are several examples of different injuries, all of these injuries fit into a small list of categories. These categories include :
- Acute Injuries: Injuries caused by sudden trauma during physical activity, such as sprains, fractures, and bruises
- Overuse Injuries: Injuries that occur when harsh athletic activities are repeated faster than the body can recover. This group apples to stress fractures and tennis elbow
- Catastrophic Sports Injuries: Injuries to the head or neck that result in damage to the brain or spinal chord
- Concussion: A mild traumatic brain injury caused by a hit to the head or body resulting in the brain moving back and forth within the skull
- Growth Plate Injuries: Injuries to the developing cartilage tissue at the ends of long bones, which cam cause issues with growth. This occurs before the cartilage turns into bone.
Difference In Injuries Between Females and Males
Females:
- Due to the inverted angle from the hip to the knee, ACL tears and other knee injuries are more common in females
- To help avoid ACL tears, training should be centered on pushing the knees outwards during movement, and strengthening the stabilizing muscles in the knee
- Most injuries occur around puberty/ development years when estrogen increases, causing looser joints/flexibility and an increase in fat rather than muscle
- The increase in flexibility can decrease over extension injuries, but also increases the likelihood of other injuries because the body is less stable
- To match the increase in flexibility, females must train rigorously to gain muscle in order to stabilize the body
- These are often caused by collisions, as puberty increases strength in males and makes them less vulnerable to injuries
- At high levels of athletics, there is little difference between injury rates between males and females
- Most injuries come from training and overuse, where the body can not keep up with the constant stress