Sports & Injuries: No Gain Without Pain

Sports are an important part of our lives. Sports are necessary because it not makes us physically fit but also aids making us mentally fit. It helps us combat the fatigue of regular life chores and relaxes us. Sports enhance our immune system and help us maintain our physical coordination while enhancing our body strength and improve our mental power. It also helps us focus and build strong team spirit.

However, there are also injuries associated with sports. There are certain injuries that are very common. Let us discuss some of them.
1. ACL Injuries: An ACL injury is a tear or sprain of the anterior cruciate ligament. This is one of the major ligaments of our knee. Most ACL injuries commonly occur during sports that involve jumping, and landing or sudden stops or changes in direction in sports like football, basketball or downhill skiing.
2. Concussion: Concussion occurs whenever a sportsman or even young children encounter a blow to their head while playing. The sudden impact causes the head and brain to shake quickly back and forth. A concussion may result in one losing consciousness or feeling dazed and confused.
3. Rotator cuff injury: The rotator cuff is a group of muscles and tendons that surround the shoulder joint. Tennis, badminton, cricket, baseball players are often victims of sore rotator cuffs owing to the nature of their sports which involves a lot of rotator cuff movements.
4. Cauliflower Ear: Cauliflower ear is mostly associated with wrestlers. It is a deformity caused by trauma to the ear and when blood pools in the pinna or the outer ear. As the pinna is repetitively struck or bent during wrestling the underlying cartilage gets traumatized.
5. Little League Elbow: Little League elbow is a common injury that occurs as a result of overuse and stress to the growth plate on the inside of the elbow. This is very common amongst players who have to do a lot of throwing movement like in baseball and cricket.
6. Cheerleading injuries: Cheerleaders need to jump and tumble a lot and these repetitive movements often result in sprains, and strains on the legs and ankles and it also places a great amount of pressure on the spine at times resulting in stress fractures as well.
Though injuries in sports are inevitable but sports should be made a part of our lives. We should learn to identify the injuries and seek medical help to heal the injured part of the body without neglecting it. Especially when it comes to young children.
By: Madhuchanda Saxena
Content: https://www.nationwidechildrens.org/specialties/sports-medicine/sports-medicine-articles