When the spring sports season arrives, it’s time to prepare for all the fun athletic events everyone has missed throughout the long winter months. It’s time to get out and enjoy the nice weather and get lots of good, healthy exercise. Unfortunately, along with the sporting events come the inevitable injuries. Sports injury fails are as common as grass stains on uniforms. When they occur, make sure you have a plan of action in place to get help fast.
The most common sports injury fails involve the foot and ankle areas. These types of injuries have the potential to turn into serious, long-term issues if not treated quickly and professionally. They include:
Stress Fractures
A stress fracture results from spending an extended amount of time carrying a great deal of weight and/or carrying weight unevenly. Minute cracks form in the bones of the foot/ankle area. This type of injury occurs most often in the fibula, tibia, the calcaneus bones, and the metatarsals. Long-distance running is one common way that stress fractures occur. Treatment for stress fractures generally begins with an MRI, then possibly wearing a hard-soled boot, shoe, or in more serious cases, a cast. The footwear or cast is worn for 6 to 12 weeks.
Ankle Sprains
Ankle sprains are the most common of all sports injuries. This type of injury results from overstretching the ligaments of the ankle, resulting in tearing. These ligaments are responsible for holding together and supporting the bones of the ankle. A sprain can only be determined by a diagnostic image of the ankle. This type of injury requires immobilization and slow, gradual physical rehabilitation. Obtaining a correct diagnosis of an ankle sprain is of the utmost importance for proper physical therapy to be determined to effectively treat the injury.
Achilles Tendon Ruptures
This type of injury occurs when the fiber of the soft tissue that connects the calf muscle to the bone of the heel becomes torn. This happens when there is a sudden, quick change in motion direction. It can also be the result of a hard landing. The injury is often described as feeling like one has been shot in the ankle accompanied by an audible popping sound. Studies have shown that 80% of all Achilles Tendon ruptures occur during recreational sports. The majority are caused by tennis or track-and-field type sports activities. The injury can be treated with a cast, but oftentimes requires surgery.
Ligament Tears
Ligament tears occur when the ligaments that connect bone to bone become overstretched to the point of ripping. These types of injuries occur due to sharp, sudden changes in motion direction, blunt force trauma to the area such as in a football tackle or landing badly from a jump. They’re classified as mild grade I sprain, moderate grade II Sprain, and severe grade III sprain. The level of severity is determined by whether the ligament is severely stretched, partially torn, or torn completely. Treatments range from physical therapy to surgery.
Shin Splints
Shin splints are a very common sports injury. This type of issue is a result of basically overworking the foot/ankle muscles and tissues. They most frequently occur when physical activity is undertaken without proper footwear, or by having extremely rigid arches or flat feet. Treatments include immobilization and rest of the affected appendage, anti-inflammatory medication, compression, ice packs, and exercises to improve flexibility.
Most of these sports injury fails can be avoided by using caution, proper form, practice, and adequate warm-up exercises when participating in physical activities. You can learn more about preventive measures from Dr. Pedram Aslmand at www.footadvice.com. As part of the care team at Advanced Foot and Ankle Center, Dr. Aslmand is an expert in the field of sports-related injuries and the most effective treatments for healing and repair.
