Sports injuries
What are sports injuries?
Exercise is important to good health, but people often get hurt when participating in sports or other physical activities. A sports injury involves damage to part of your body due to sports, exercise or athletic activities.
A sports injury can be acute (sudden) or chronic (develop over time).
What causes sports injuries?
Sports injuries have many causes, including:
- Accidents, such as a fall.
- Bad habits with exercise, such as not warming up or stretching enough.
- Lack of safety equipment, or gear that’s damaged or worn incorrectly.
- Shoes that don’t fit well or provide enough support.
- Sudden start to an exercise program or significant increase in physical activity that your body isn’t used to.
What are the symptoms of a sports injury?
The signs and symptoms of a sports injury depend on the type of injury. Common symptoms include:
- Aches, pain or tenderness.
- Bruising.
- Deformity, such as a bone or joint looking out of place.
- Decreased range of motion.
- Grinding, cracking, clicking or popping noise.
- Inability to bear weight on your hip, leg or foot.
- Skin that’s warm to the touch.
- Stiffness or weakness.
- Swelling.
- Trouble moving a body part normally (for example, you can’t move it as far or it locks up when you try to move).
