How to Still Play Sports After a Chronic Injury

According to physical therapists, most athletic injuries can be avoided with the proper technique. However, there are times when even using the right technique injuries are unavoidable, possibly because of direct impact, overuse, or because you’ve encountered force greater than what your body can withstand. In this instance, what do you do if you want to continue playing sports even though you’re injured?

Don’t Hide Your Injuries

The most important thing you can do if you want to continue playing sports is to ensure you don’t hide the injury, regardless of whether they’re mild or serious injuries.

According to available data, hiding sports injuries is rather common. According to FIFA, 39% of soccer players resorted to taking painkillers before a game, and data from the NCAA division I also reveals that nearly half of injured players feel pressure to continue playing even when they are injured. Hiding sports injuries also extends to children, with 42% of child athletes opting to continue playing even with an injury.

But the most important reason you should never conceal your injuries is that they can worsen over time, increase recovery time, or diminish your tolerance to pain. It can also cause you to experience severe pain and constant injuries years later.

Are you At Risk of a Sports Injury?

Like most preventable ailments, some athletes will be at an increased risk of experiencing a sports injury because of underlying aspects. You can avoid sports injuries by avoiding the following:

Poor Technique

Your technique can put you at risk of developing an injury. For example, weight lifters and powerlifters need to lift extraordinary weights in a precise manner to avoid common injuries like rotator cuff ruptures. In these solo sports, poor technique is usually the only reason for an injury.

Lack of Physical Activity

If you play sports infrequently, a sudden bout of activity could lead you to experience common injuries. For this reason, it’s better to gradually increase your physical activity to match your level of tolerance.

Not Wearing Protective Gear

When playing contact sports, you need protective gear. Even non-traditional contact sports, you need to wear the prescribed gear like ankle or shin guards, headgear to avoid head and neck injuries, and for men, a groin guard.

If you’re unsure what sort of gear you need to use to protect yourself from possible injuries, discuss your needs with a coach.

Not Warming Up

Warm-ups aren’t anecdotal, there is data that supports warming up as a vital part of maintaining good form during any activity. If you want to avoid common injuries, be sure to warm up before any activity. Probably the best tip to preventing sports injuries would be to warm up.

The Seven Most Common Types of Sports Injuries

Sprains

Sprains are rather common in sports. Most mild sprains happen because of the stretching of a ligament. But, moderate to severe sprains can result in a complete ligament tear. In sports, you can sprain almost any ligament, from wrist sprains to thumb and ankle sprains.

Heat Exhaustion/Heat Stroke

Surprisingly common in summer sports like running, heatstroke can not only dash your desire to place in a race but is rather severe, needing immediate attention. The illness occurs due to prolonged exposure and activity to high temperatures. It can present as a headache, dizziness, nausea, and sweaty and pale skin. It’s also an injury you should not ignore, instead ensuring you’re seeking medical attention immediately.

Knee Injuries

In sports like basketball, volleyball, football, and tennis, knee injuries like a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) are common. The ACL connects the femur (thigh bone) to the tibia (shin bone) and is torn due to stress on the knee. Treatment usually involves going for physiotherapy or surgery.

Broken Bones

Bone fractures also known as broken bones are acute injuries. These injuries occur suddenly whereas chronic injuries are overuse injuries.

Achilles Tendon Injuries

Another common injury is an Achilles tendon injury; this sports injury happens because of sudden increased pressure on the tendon and can occur when you increase your sports participation, placing greater emphasis on the heel, either through jumping or falling from a height.

Stress Fractures

Stress fractures are chronic injuries that, unlike a broken bone, happen as a result of putting pressure on a bone or joint over extended periods.

Spine Injuries

While not as common as the six other sports injuries on this list, a spine injury is still a rather common injury that can occur when playing sports. It’s more than back pain and has some of the most severe consequences in athletics. If you find yourself playing ice hockey, wrestling, rugby, or diving you are at risk.

Navigating Sports Injuries: Common Questions Athletes Ask

As an athlete, knowing more about what causes an injury and how to treat and prevent it will help you avoid many common sports injuries. But confusion exists around sports injuries and whether you can continue training and playing with them.

What are Chronic Injuries and How Do They Differ from Acute Injuries?

Whether or not an injury is described as a chronic injury has little to do with the severity and, rather, with the length of time you’re experiencing the injury. A chronic injury results because of wear and tear, whereas acute injuries occur suddenly, usually resulting in immediate pain.

This also means that most chronic sports injuries are preventable if you follow a few sports injury prevention tips.

Therefore, if you are experiencing any pain, don’t only focus on ways to relieve pain but also on the underlying cause of the pain.

What Happens if You Overuse Injuries?

If you are concerned about using an overuse injury, know this: nothing severe will happen in the short term. However, overusing an injury can lead to negative long-term ramifications. Take tennis elbow as an example. Although many child athletes can experience these overuse injuries, it can also lead to more severe consequences later in life, like arthritis. For wrist injuries, athletes can also experience carpal tunnel long after they stop participating in the sport.

Beyond the long-term effects of using overuse injuries, in the short term, your experience may be limited to some pain – like a dull ache – swelling, and discomfort.

The best way to prevent or treat these types of sports injuries is to restrict intense training and activity and focus on rehabilitation. If that isn’t possible, stretching before sports or doing strength training that strengthens muscles to avoid further damage.

How Do You Treat Sports Injuries?

While prevention is ideal, there are treatment options for all sports injuries. Some may require you to discuss your options with your healthcare providers, but for mild injuries, a simple ice pack to the injured area will do.

Follow The Rice Method

The RICE Method was developed as a way to treat the most common sports injuries and helps the injury heals. You should follow this process within the first 24 to 36 hours.

Rest: The first component of the RICE method is resting. This means no or limited sport.

Ice: The next step is to place an ice pack on the affected area.

Compression: Wrap the injured area in an elastic wrap to decrease swelling.

Elevation: If possible, keep the injured area elevated to reduce swelling.

If pain persists beyond a reasonable treatment period, consider discussing your injury with athletic trainers or get a physical exam, as this will help diagnose any injured body part.

Regenerative Medicine

For a handful of injuries, medical professionals may resort to sports medicine designed to amplify the body’s natural healing abilities. This medicine usually is only prescribed to repair or replace damaged tendons, cartilage, and ligament tissues.

Surgery

Most common injuries won’t require surgery to make a full recovery. Shoulder labral tears, Meniscus tears, and ACL tears are all sports injuries that are likely to need surgery.

Physical Therapy

When an athletic injury persists either through pain, swelling, difficulty moving, or walking, it’s possibly time to see a physical therapist. Your PT will likely conduct a physical examination to determine your starting point before prescribing a way forward.

How Long Does It Take to Heal a Sports Injury?

No athlete wants to be sitting on the bench or unable to participate because of injury, so it’s natural to be curious about when you can start to enjoy the sport again. Knowing the exact time you should return to sport will also prevent reinjury.

Below we’ve highlighted the average healing time for most injuries.

• Shin splints and ankle strains can take up to 6 to 12 weeks to heal.
• A hamstring pull will also take about 6 to 12 weeks to heal.
• Tennis elbow will take 3 to 12 months to heal.
• An ACL tear will take anywhere upwards of 6 months to heal.

 

Your healing time may also depend on whether you have a previous injury.

Alternate Ways to Enjoy Sport

If you are currently waiting the few months it can take for the injured area to heal, there are other ways you can enjoy the sport without putting pressure on your injury.

Maintain Fitness

Instead of going stir-crazy because you can’t participate in sport, continue to maintain your fitness. Under the guidance of your practitioners, ensure the exercise you’re doing can be done while you’re healing from your sports injury. Stick to professional fitness advice and don’t forget to take it slow.

Consider Fantasy Sports

While you may not think fantasy sports or digital games will be as interesting, many of the mental components are still there. This means you’re able to participate in the non-physical elements of the game – like strategizing – while you heal from your sports injuries.

Focus on Your Other Hobbies

To avoid entering a negative headspace, avoid fixating on your sports injuries. Instead, during your healing period, explore other hobbies. You can also consider training other inexperienced athletes if you have your doctor’s permission. But, if that’s not possible, explore other facets of your personality to give yourself new ways to relax and enjoy life.