From broken teeth to sprained ankles, suffering an injury while playing a sport is relatively common. While some of these injuries are practically unpreventable, and an acceptable risk for most sports enthusiasts, many of these injuries can easily be avoided with the right strategies.

So what steps can you take to reduce injuries while playing sports?

Wear the Right Equipment

First, make sure you’re wearing the right equipment. Depending on where and how you’re playing sports, the equipment may be provided for you. If it isn’t, it’s on you to shop for what you need.

Helmets

Helmets are most important in contact sports like football and sports with a high risk of other injuries, like cycling. Make sure your helmet is suited for the sport you intend to play and make sure it’s fitted properly to reduce your chances of a traumatic brain injury.

Pads

Special pads can protect your body from hits, and are especially important in contact sports or other forms of sports like skateboarding.

Mouthguards

Many sports like hockey, rugby, martial arts or boxing, definitely require some form of mouth guards to protect your teeth and gums from any contact. The last thing you want after a sport is to lose teeth. Dental implants in Daily City can replace your missing teeth with artificial teeth that look and function almost identically to your original set, but it’s much better to avoid losing teeth in the first place.

Shoes and gloves

The right set of shoes will afford you more comfort while playing a sport, allow your feet to move in a natural way, and provide you with better overall support. Make sure you’re wearing and using shoes suited for this specific activity or sport that you plan to do. Wearing gloves can also protect your hands in some activities.

Warm Up and Cool Down

Arguably the best thing you can do to avoid injuries during sports is to warm up and cool down. If you launch into a round of explosive activity without properly warming up, you could end up straining or tearing your muscles. The alternative is simple; spend a few minutes partaking in light exercise before jumping into the sport, and cool down with some walking and stretching after the match or training is over.

Stretch Appropriately

Speaking of stretching, it’s important to stretch appropriately. It’s best to avoid stretching before a match, or at least warm up your muscles before attempting to stretch them. Your stretches should also be challenging, yet not painful, and you should try to hold them for at least 20 or 30 seconds.

Regularly stretching and practicing yoga can keep your muscles, tendons, and ligaments limber.

Eat and Drink Correctly

If you want to perform well and remain healthy, it’s important to eat and drink correctly before and during your activity. It’s ideal to have at least some food in your system, and you’ll need to stay hydrated throughout.

At the same time, you have to avoid overdoing things like drinking too much, too fast, or eating right before activity, which can leave you with a side stitch, which certainly isn’t life threatening, but it can cause significant discomfort. Consult with a sports nutritionist to come up with a strategy that works for you.

Be wary of ankle and foot placement

When you’re chasing after a basketball or desperately running to base, it’s easy to get lost in the moment. But it’s important to be wary of your ankle and foot placement as a single misstep could lead to a sprain, or worse, a broken bone.

Adhere to proper form and technique

Utilizing proper techniques during an activity or exercise can greatly minimize your chances of experiencing an injury. Always take the time to learn proper form for things like throwing, swinging an object, and even basic movements like running. If you don’t know the proper form, get someone more experienced to teach you or watch a video on the subject. This is the standard form for a reason.

Don’t overexert yourself

Avoid overexerting yourself. We all want to do our best and do a little better each time around the field, but if you push too hard, you may end up hurting yourself.

Build up your core and Cross Train

Cross training across many different disciplines can strengthen your body in different ways and reduce your chances of being injured. Incorporating various things like weight training, yoga and even Pilates can all be beneficial no matter what sport you are training for.

Improving your “core” muscles will increase your balance and stability, so always make time for proper core exercises and holds such as planks. Routines are valuable, but they can also be limiting. Try exercising in new ways and experimenting with new sports and training methods every so often.

Rest

Always take the time to rest after a big workout or exhausting sports match. Your body needs time to fully recover. If you do too many intense workouts back-to-back, or if you try to push yourself past your natural limits when you’re already sore, you’ll end up regretting it and your muscles will be more prone to injury when they are exhausted and overworked.

Allow Your Injuries to Fully Heal

Finally, if you do experience any injuries while playing sports or working out, give those injuries time to fully heal before you return to normal activity. If you keep pushing yourself, or if you ignore your injuries and “play through the pain,” you could set yourself up for something much worse. It’s better to reduce your activity for a few weeks and fully recover than keep pushing yourself and take yourself out of commission for months.

The majority of sports injuries can be completely prevented, as long as you’re willing to make an extra effort to prevent them. Most of us like to challenge ourselves in a competitive environment, but it’s never worth a visit to the hospital.

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The physical therapy industry is booming. With the growing prevalence of chronic conditions among athletes and regular fitness enthusiasts alike, more and more people are turning to physical therapy for pain relief. And while this type of care has long been reserved for people with serious injuries or disabilities, there’s no reason why anyone should be left out. In fact, many find that many PT practices benefit their overall health, fitness, and well-being.

How can you take advantage? Read on to learn about some of these physical therapy benefits and tips helping you to get started and for staying fit!

Get active now

The best way to get started on the right foot in terms of physical health is by starting early. Now is the time to find a physical therapy treatment provider and get started on a plan that will keep you fit, happy, and healthy for years to come.

Additionally, it will help maintain good bone density that will help fight against the onset of osteoporosis later in life. It will also help maintain your muscle mass, which naturally decreases as you age and will improve your heart’s overall well-being (in addition to creating a healthy lifestyle habit).

Stretching pays off

It’s not glamorous or exciting like an intense workout at the gym might be, but stretching is incredibly important when it comes to staying in shape because it helps you to avoid injury. It also keeps your muscles flexible and strong, so that they don’t atrophy over time. This means if the physical therapist recommends specific stretches or exercises for certain injuries, be sure to stick with them.

At-home workouts are just as valuable

You might think that all of the good stuff happens at the physical therapy clinic, but you would be wrong. Many therapists recommend doing simple activities like yoga or Pilates at home to improve your strength and flexibility so that when it comes time for physical therapy exercises, the process can go more smoothly.

Consider incorporating a PT into your workout regimen

Physical therapists aren’t always just for people who are injured or have a condition. Here are a few reasons to consider having one for yourself:

You can get a baseline

A PT can professionally assess your range of motion, muscle strength and endurance, balance, coordination, and speed/agility in addition to any other fitness metrics. This means that they can create a custom workout plan that is optimized for you.

You can prevent injury

Whether you realize it or not, you may not have as good of form as you think. A PT can help improve your form and technique so that you avoid injuries like sprained ankles, pulled muscles, and even more serious conditions like tendonitis. They also understand how to work with all ages (so not just seniors) and genders, which is great for people who may feel intimidated by the gym or unsure of what they are doing. You can get an all-around workout program.

You can get expert advice without bias

Most fitness industry professionals may have an individual agenda. Personal trainers may want you to be a member at their gym. Yoga studio instructors may want you to do yoga. But a physical therapist is there to help you, free of bias. Their sole interest is in you meeting your goals. If they recommend something, it’s because they believe in its efficacy and benefits.

Physical therapy practices are beneficial to everyone, not just those with a chronic condition or injury. This is because the benefits of physical therapy stretch beyond improving your health and fitness, but also in maintaining a healthy lifestyle that will improve your quality of life for years to come. If you’re interested in learning more about how PT can help with your overall wellness goals, find a physical therapist near you today and ask them all your questions!

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What is a sports podiatrist, you might ask?

Basically, sports podiatrists are foot doctors that are experts in sports medicine. These doctors can diagnose, treat and manage injuries that anyone can get from playing sports.

If you’re a full-time athlete, sports podiatrists can also help you devise a plan to prevent foot injuries from happening in the first place. But if you’ve already hurt yourself, sports podiatrists have nothing else to do but to treat and help you recover from the injuries. So if you just got yourself hurt with these injuries that we’re going to mention, perhaps see if you can go to a Melbourne sports podiatry clinic for example.

Achilles Tendonitis

This injury happens when the Achilles tendon is inflamed because of the recurring strains or pressure that are put into the tendon. If you’re the type of athlete who uses his or her foot/feet a lot, you’re more at risk of getting this injury.

If you get this injury, chances are you’re going to suffer from a world of pain in your heels. Not to mention, there’s also the possibility of experiencing bone spurs. If you’re not familiar with bone spurs, it’s what happens when the broken tendon hardens at your bones. 

While Achilles tendonitis sounds scary (because it is), sometimes you don’t have to undergo invasive processes like surgeries to heal your feet. It can be managed through proper resting, ice bag treatment, medications, physical therapy, use of orthotics, and sometimes, even shockwave therapy.

Fractures

These types of injuries are probably one of the most common injuries in the sports world. You’ll know you have trauma or a fracture when you start to feel pain and swelling.

No matter how mild or bearable the pain is, the best thing to do is to consult a podiatrist right away. If you’re one of the unlucky ones with broken bones breaking their skin, it’s a much more complicated injury. Because that only means that even for a split second, your bones are exposed in the air which can cause further complications and infections.

The worst thing about these injuries is that you have to undergo surgeries and a series of rehabilitations, which only means that you won’t be able to play your favourite game for a really long time.

Ankle Sprains

An ankle sprain is not as severe as the first two injuries that we just mentioned. But it’s the most common injury of all time that almost every athlete had at some point in their career. So if you’re seriously considering going pro, this injury is certainly the kind that you have to watch out for.

One of the main causes of ankle sprain is wrong foot landing. We’ve seen it too many times. Especially in sports that require players to run and jump almost every time. If you happen to be that kind of athlete, be careful not to get your ankle sprained. Because once you’ve twisted your ankle, all the pain, tenderness, and swelling will automatically ensue.

Normally, a low-level ankle sprain will just need up to two months for the ankle to heal. But if it’s a third-degree ankle sprain, you might need to undergo surgery. A good example of a third-degree ankle sprain is when the ligament was completely torn when you twisted your ankles. If that happens during a game, make sure to rest your feet, elevate them, and call your sports podiatrist right away.

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