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As therapists, we take an interest in the most common injuries that occur in sports. This is because we need to have an in-depth understanding of these injuries occur, so we can recommend the best form of treatment for our clients. This might involve deep tissue massage, sports massage, or sports therapy (which is a combination of massage and rehab). We’re often asked by clients what these injuries are, so here’s the Fire&Earth list of the top ten most common sporting injuries and how they happen. 

10 common sports injuries: 

10. Hip flexor strain: Your hip flexors are a set of muscles located at the top of the leg. The hip flexors’ primary action is to lift the knee to your waist. If you strain them it’s because you’ve over-stretched or torn a muscle. Sports such as sprinting, running on an incline, or sports that have sudden starts or changing of direction are more likely to cause hip flexor strains. 
 
9. ACL tear or sprain: The Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) is a ligament that’s on the front side of your knee joint under the knee cap. Ligaments attach bone to bone so in this case the femur (thigh bone) to the tibia (shin bone). The sports movement that most likely causes this injury is slowing down or sudden change of direction. 
 
8. Concussion: Concussion is technically a brain injury. It occurs with a shaking or a jarring of the brain. Sports that are most associated with concussion are impact sports like rugby and football. Within these sports, especially rugby, there’s been an assessment brought out in recent years called the head injury assessment (HIA). This has rigorous assessments to make sure that a player is safe to return back to the pitch. 
 
7. Groin strain: Similar to hip flexor strain, this can be a pull or a tear of groin muscles. These muscles consist of the adducer muscles so the adductor Magnus, Longis, and Brevis, the pectinous, and the gracilis. Footballers have an increased chance of getting a groin strain due to the change in direction. In addition, a lack of flexibility is a common reason for people to get groin strains. 
 
6. Shin splints: Shin splints is the term used for pain in the lower front part of the leg along the tibia (shin bone). There are two types of shin splints; there is anterior shin splints (front outside) and then the medial shin splint (inside of leg). It’s normally caused by an imbalance in the calf muscle and muscle at the front of the shin. Running is the main sport that causes shin splints. 
 
5. Sciatica: The sciatic nerve is a nerve that runs down the back of the leg in the hamstring region, and it can cause pain to radiate down the leg. It’s primarily caused by an impingement of the nerve. Sports commonly associated with this condition is anything that causes a person to be in a flexed position, for instance cycling, or that has a lot of trunk rotation, such as golf or tennis. 
 
4. Hamstring strain: Similar to the Hip flexor strain, this can be caused by over-stretching or a lack of flexibility. The main sports that are at risk are football and rugby anything that causes the hamstring to over stretch. 
 
3. Tennis or golfer’s elbow: Medically these are called called lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow) or medial epicondylitis. They’re caused by an inflammation of the tendons in the forearm due to a forceful grip. The name gives away what sports cause this injury, but it can also come from activities such as weightlifting or pole dancing with a tight grip. 
 
2. Shoulder injury: This category of injury is very broad as this can range from simply a “pulled muscle” through to a shoulder dislocation. The shoulder is the weakest part of the body and therefore depending on what sport you do is the most likely to be injured. Rugby, tennis, golf, and weightlifting tend to be the most common sports to have shoulder injuries. And being thrown off a horse tends to end up with shoulder injuries, too. 
 
1. Patellofemoral syndrome: This is a condition that causes pain in the front of the knee and around the patella. It is sometimes known as jumper’s knee or runner’s knee. The common cause for this is overuse or weakness of the quadriceps. Any sport that has a lot of running and jumping can get this injury. 
 
 
As you’ll have seen from this run down, injuries are common when playing sports or doing exercise. They can be minimised, and of course we’re happy to help you with advice on this. 
 
If you have an injury and need some advice or would like to begin on the road to recovery, then book an appointment at www.fireandearthuk.com 
Tagged as: injury, sports
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