SPORTS PROCEDURES
Sports overuse injuries & tendinopathies
Because exercise applies stress to the various body parts, the body responds by thickening and strengthening the different tissues involved, making muscles and tendons stronger. If however, exercise is excessive, increases in intensity or duration the body cannot adapt in time and microscopic injuries (known as microtrauma) can occur to the muscles, ligaments and tendons.
What causes overuse injuries?
Increase in duration and intensity of exercise can cause overuse injuries and tendinopathies. Most overuse injuries result from doing too much exercise too soon – often experienced by athletes who don't give themselves time to rest and recover after training.
Even if the body can adapt to excessive exercise, some malalignments, muscle imbalances, inflexibilities, weaknesses, and instabilities can cause common overuse injuries and tendinopathies. In addition, training errors, faulty technique and incorrect equipment can cause these injuries.
Overuse injuries often cause small tears in fibres and connective tissue of the muscles, sprained ligaments, strained muscles, and overstretched tendons, leading to inflammation that causes tightness, discomfort, tenderness, and pain.
What are the common overuse injuries?
Common overuse, microtrauma injuries to the musculoskeletal structures include:
Elbow & Arm overuse injuries may include symptoms such as pain in the forearm, wrist, front of the shoulder, swelling and stiffness in the arm and elbow. The common overuse injuries include:
- Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
- Tennis elbow
- Golfer's elbow
- Rotator cuff tendinitis
Knee overuse injuries typically involve tenderness of the knee, pain when bending the knee, swelling, stiffness and loss of range. The common overuse injuries of the knee include:
- Iliotibial band (IT band) syndrome
- Runner's knee (ITB syndrome)
- Jumper's knee
- Knee bursitis and pre-patellar bursitis
- Medial collateral ligament (MCL) sprains
- Shin splints
Ankle and Foot overuse injuries are common since there are so many joints and bones in these parts of the body. Symptoms of pain, stiffness, swelling and tenderness in the foot and ankle may be an indication of a microtrauma injury. Overuse injuries that are common in the foot and ankle include:
- Metatarsalgia
- Ankle instability
- Ankle sprains and strains
- Achilles tendinitis
What does treatment involve?
Most often, treatment includes non-surgical methods such as rest, ice and compression, as well as anti-inflammation and pain medications. In addition, Dr Bismilla may advise you rehabilitate the injured area with the help of a physiotherapist. A structured rehabilitation program will be designed to strengthen the area and prevent further damage and injury when you return to training or exercise. In some cases, braces, injection therapies, and shockwave therapy may be prescribed for treatment. In more severe cases where a tendon or ligament may have torn, surgery may be needed for repair or reconstruction. During your consultation with Dr Bismilla, he will be able to advise the best treatment method to get you back to doing what you love, safely and healthily.
