If you play contact sports, there’s always a risk that injuries will occur. However, that doesn’t mean you should accept injury as an inevitable consequence of team games.
It’s far better to get to know the most likely issues you might suffer in your sport of choice, and take action to make them less likely. Here are just a few examples to consider, as well as the steps that can reduce risks in this context.
Joint injuries
In terms of wear and tear, your joints are the most susceptible to gradual deterioration over time. As well as to one-off impacts that leave them seriously damaged.
Knees are especially vulnerable, with all sorts of sports putting them in the firing line. Whether you need meniscal tear treatment after cartilage damage due to a twist, or surgery due to a more serious fracture or break of your knee joint, it can be a painful and difficult injury type to recover from.
For many contact sports, the best way to avoid injuring your joints is to wear the right protective gear when you play. Knee braces and elbow pads can shield the larger joints of your body from impacts and tears. While gloves can defend the even weaker joints in your fingers as well.
Another important step to take is to focus on strength training and exercises that improve your flexibility and for emergency cases keep doctors in your team who are specialized in first aid for sport course.
Head injuries
Concussions are another high-profile problem faced by people who play contact sports. Brain trauma can manifest itself in many ways, with both short-term symptoms to recover from as well as the potential for long-term issues to develop as a result of repeated head injuries.
Speedy treatment of any head injuries that do occur is a must. Whether you are the one that is involved or not. This is doubly important if the injured person falls unconscious at any point. Brain trauma is not a medical issue to take lightly or try to walk off.
When it comes to avoiding head injuries, aside from wearing protected equipment as mentioned earlier, good training can go a long way to avoiding unwanted clashes.
If everyone is of an equivalent skill level and also adhering to the rules of the game, most head injury events can be avoided altogether.
Muscle injuries
Our muscles do the heavy lifting in any sporting scenario. When they are put to work there is always the opportunity for something to go awry. From simple overstretching and sprains to pulled muscles and full-blown muscle detachments, injuries can range from mild to severe.
Warming up is a tried and tested way of getting your muscles ready for lots of exertion during sporting events. However, it is just as important to cool down with light exercise and stretching once the game has concluded.
This is because injuries can manifest themselves, or be exacerbated if you don’t properly give your body the opportunity to recover.
Another piece of advice that will lessen muscle injuries is to take a balanced approach to work out.
Rather than solely focusing on building your arm muscles at the expense of whole-body cardiovascular exercise, aim to ensure that each of your muscle groups gets enough attention.
The more all-around strength and stamina you have, the better equipped you will be to steer clear of common injuries. Including but not limited to contact sports, as well as more generally in daily life.
