Have you been sidelined by a sports injury that's keeping you from doing what you love most?

Who does sports injuries most commonly affect?

Sports injuries can affect athletes and individuals who participate in various physical activities and sports. The risk of sports injuries can vary based on factors such as the type of sport or activity, the level of competition, age, and fitness level.

What causes sports injuries?

There are many things that can cause a sporting injury and many types. Some of these may be:

• • Repetitive strain. This is usually through overuse or overloading of the soft tissues (muscles and tendons). Usually, this is either due to an increase in training, an increase in a specific repetitive skill, or even a change in equipment or footwear.

• • A traumatic strain or muscle tear. This is usually due to a sudden increase in force (e.g. sudden sprinting, sudden stopping, explosive jumping, or direct impact) that is above the capacity of your soft tissue to cope with, and so stresses the structures.

• • Ligament strains or ruptures. This is usually due to a sudden force pushing your joint past its usual range of movement. For example, this might include: rolling your ankle, direct force to the front of your knee pushing it backward, or falling onto your shoulder.

• • The most common injury we see is pain caused by compensatory movement patterns. This usually happens when you are asking your body to do tasks that it is not strong enough to do, trying to move into a range that you are stiff in, or your body does not work together (due to one area being stronger than another). Our bodies will always take the easy option and so compensate for the lack of strength or movement. This leads to repetitive microtrauma, predisposing us to further injuries.