When people think of sports injuries, they think of injuries that happen suddenly. In reality, most sports injuries are caused by overuse. Overuse injuries are caused by a build up of stress from repeating one particular motion. After awhile your bones, joints, muscles, and ligaments can’t continue to handle the strain. Ignoring these injuries makes them harder to fix and can cause permanent damage.

Overuse injuries used to only be seen in professional athletes, but they now make up over half of the injuries seen in teens. Experts believe this is caused by a lack of rest and improper training. Kid and teen athletes have a higher risk of developing these injuries their bones, muscles, and tendons are still developing. Athletes that specialize in one specific sport are also more at risk for these types of injuries, because they continuously put stress on their bodies in the same way. Many teen athletes play more than one season of a specific sport, which can be dangerous. The body needs time to rest, heal, and get stronger in between seasons.

       

The first way to treat an overuse injury is rest. If you feel tired, unusually sore, or are in pain during practice, you need to take a break. This is your body’s way of telling you to stop. Stretching before and after games and practices and preforming strengthening exercises can help heal and prevent overuse injuries. It is highly recommended that you work on specific skills, instead of the same thing repeatedly. Playing multiple sports or cross training helps a lot with preventing overuse injuries. You should also take at least one month a year off from sports to rest and let your body heal.

Some of the most common overuse injuries occur in the shoulder, hip, knees, and shins. Rotator cuff tendinitis, which is inflamed, painful tendons in the shoulder, is extremely common in swimmers, gymnasts, tennis players, volleyball players, and teens in throwing sports. Cross-country and track athletes often strain their hip flexors or groin muscles, which if untreated can lead to a tear in the labrum. It’s pretty common for basketball players, volleyball players, and track and cross-country athletes to develop runner’s or jumper’s knee, which causes pain behind the kneecap. Young teen basketball players, soccer players, and gymnasts are also prone to Osgood-Schlatter Disease, which occurs when muscles work too hard before you shin bones finish developing. It can cause a painful bump to form below the knee. Shin splints are extremely common in athletes, especially runners. However, if they’re left untreated, they can turn into stress fractures.

Overuse injuries have become a serious problem, especially in young athletes. Experts say 50% of these injuries can be prevented. So it’s extremely important to take a break from sports every once and awhile and be sure to work every part of your body. Try to catch these injuries early one and get some rest as soon as possible, if you wait to long to get treatment, the effects could be devastating.

• How do you think we could prevent overuse injuries in young athletes?
• Do you think these injuries are becoming a problem?
• Do you think a lot of athletes ignore these injuries so they can continue playing their sports?