What is a sports injury?
A sports injury is musculoskeletal damage that occurs when you’re playing sports or during training and exercise. You might suffer a sports injury if you don’t warm up, stretch, and cool down properly or if you exceed your current level of fitness. Wearing worn or unsuitable footwear is also a common cause of sports injuries.
Using incorrect techniques when playing sports can cause an injury too. For example, jumping and landing with poor technique puts extra strain on your joints. Repeating the same movements over months and years can cause overuse sports injuries.
In many cases, a sports injury results from over-reaching yourself when caught up in the heat of the game.
What symptoms does a sports injury cause?
If you suffer an acute sports injury, you might experience:
- Sudden pain
- Tenderness
- Swelling
- Bruising
- Redness
- Weakness
- Loss of function
If you injure your foot, ankle, or leg, you might not be able to bear weight on the affected limb.
Overuse injuries develop more slowly, worsening over time as the tissues suffer repeated tiny tears or hairline cracks appear in the bones.
What kind of sports injury might I get?
Sports injuries typically involve damage to your muscles and the tendons, ligaments, and cartilage in your joints. You could also injure the bones and the nerves that serve the soft tissues. Some of the more common sports-related injuries Dr. Rispoli sees include:
- Rotator cuff tears
- Meniscus tears
- ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) sprains
- MCL (medial collateral ligament) sprains
- Labral tears
- Tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis)
- Golfer’s elbow (medial epicondylitis)
- Achilles tendon injuries
- Runner’s knee (patellofemoral pain syndrome)
- Plantar fasciitis
- Bursitis
- Tendinitis
- Stress fractures
If you don’t receive the proper treatment for a sports injury, you might develop a long-term problem that causes chronic pain and weakness or joint instability.
What treatment does my sports injury require?
The treatment you need for a sports injury depends on what you’ve done and how badly the tissues are damaged. Some sports injuries require surgery, but most respond well to conservative treatments, such as:
- Activity modification
- Rest
- Heat and ice
- Physical therapy
- Therapeutic massage
- Anti-inflammatory medication
Dr. Rispoli also provides several advanced therapies, including steroid or regenerative medicine injections, which reduce inflammation and pain.
Regenerative medicine injections, which consist of substances like platelet-rich plasma (PRP), may help to boost your body’s natural healing abilities. They encourage better, faster repair and are becoming one of the main treatments for sports injuries.
To benefit from expert care of your sports injury, call Leia Rispoli, MD, or book an appointment online today.
