Sports bring many benefits to the body by preventing various conditions such as obesity, diabetes, or hypertension. It also protects our musculoskeletal system, reduces stress and insomnia, and helps boost self-esteem. However, sports practice also has its downside: injuries. Injuries may require the athlete to avoid certain types of exercise for a specific period of time.
That’s why it’s important to follow a good preventive program during the training process. We must anticipate injuries and, if they appear, help return to sports activity as soon as possible.
Causes of injuries
There are different factors that can cause or increase the likelihood of injury. These factors can be divided into three groups: predisposing, extrinsic, and triggering factors. Predisposing factors are physical ones inherent to the athlete, such as poor preparation, lack of stretching and warm-up, fatigue, or poor nutrition.
Extrinsic factors are external to the athlete, such as the equipment used for sports or the characteristics of the sport itself.
Triggering factors can be trauma, poor movements, or overexertion before, during, or after exercise.
The last type of injury we find are tendon injuries, which can be either tendinopathies or ruptures. The latter are rare as they affect all the fibers of a tendon. All athletes should be very aware of the importance of injury prevention as well as proper rehabilitation if they’ve suffered one. It’s advisable to consult a sports physiotherapist, as they not only treat injuries but also play an important role in prevention and reconditioning.
Types of injuries
As for types of injuries, they can be classified into three major groups: muscular injuries, joint injuries, and tendon injuries.
Muscle injuries are the most common among athletes. Most of the time, the athlete will have previously experienced muscle discomforts like soreness, cramps, spasms, contractures, or overuse.
We identify three muscle injuries, from least to most severe: muscle strain or elongation, muscle fiber tear, and complete rupture.
Another type of injury is joint injuries, which can be grouped into two main categories: capsulitis or arthritis (inflammations of the joint or the capsule that surrounds it), and dislocations (loss of contact between two bones in the same joint).
The last type of injury we find are tendon injuries, which can be either tendinopathies or ruptures. The latter are rare as they affect all the fibers of a tendon. All athletes should be very aware of the importance of injury prevention as well as proper rehabilitation if they’ve suffered one. It’s advisable to consult a sports physiotherapist, as they not only treat injuries but also play an important role in prevention and reconditioning.
Muscle soreness after exercise
Muscle soreness after exercise. You might think the muscle soreness you feel after exercising is “good pain” because it reminds you that you're working hard to stay fit and healthy. The problem is that even “good pain” is uncomfortable and can interfere with your daily activities.
The feeling of pain and stiffness you feel 24 hours (or more) after exercise is known as delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). DOMS is the result of injury to muscle fibers caused by excessive or new exercise. The small tears signal the immune system to release white blood cells to begin the repair process. The white blood cells release chemicals and enzymes, which are believed to cause muscle pain, according to sports medicine doctors.
Muscle pain caused by exercise
Exercise is an important part of a healthy and active lifestyle; it improves the heart and lungs and strengthens bones and muscles. However, exercise can cause muscle pain, which is common when doing new exercises or increasing intensity. You might use new muscles, strain them, or suffer small tears in the muscle fibers.
If the muscles begin to hurt immediately, this is known as acute pain. You may feel sore about 12 hours after exercising, and in some cases, the discomfort can peak between 48 and 72 hours later. This is known as delayed onset muscle soreness. During this time, your muscles heal and become stronger. Therefore, muscle pain can improve quickly or last for several days.
To help relieve muscle pain, you can try the following:
- Muscle massage.
- Use ice to help reduce inflammation.
- Use heat to help increase blood flow to the muscles.
- Take over-the-counter pain relievers, such as a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), like ibuprofen.
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