If you’ve ever seen a sports injury compilation video on the internet, you know just how gruesome sports injuries can be.
While the most common injuries are mild and capable of healing on their own in just a few days, sports injuries can also be severe – and potentially life-changing.
But there’s good news here. From trivial annoyances to life-altering threats, the majority of sports injuries are preventable.
So how do you prevent them? And what do you do if you can’t?
How To Prevent Sports Injuries
These are some of the best strategies for preventing sports injuries.
1. Warm up and cool down
Many people experience injuries after failing to appropriately warm up. It’s important to stimulate blood flow and get your muscles moving before you attempt any truly challenging activities. For example, before a big soccer game, you should spend some time lightly jogging and dribbling a ball with your teammates. It’s also a good idea to cool down after a game before resting.
2. Stretch
Stretching has a complicated relationship with sports injury prevention – and that’s putting it lightly. Evidence is mixed about whether stretching can prevent sports injuries directly, but stretching definitely helps you improve your flexibility so you’re less likely to suffer an injury in the future. When stretching, always make sure to warm up so you’re not overly straining your muscles.
3. Wear the right protective equipment
Always wear the right protective equipment for the sport. Depending on the activity, that could mean wearing a helmet, shoulder pads, a mouth guard, or proper footwear. Always make sure the equipment is properly fitted and that you’re using it properly. One such perfect example of sports wear or accessory that can prevent injuries to your calf & thigh muscles during a sport like soccer, are high-quality soccer leg sleeves that can be pulled straight up your knee height, providing support and strength to your legs.Wearing or using equipment inappropriately is as bad as not using any equipment at all.
4. Train responsibly
Many athletes suffer injuries while training because they work out irresponsibly. When exercising or training, it’s important to follow all the same precautions you follow before a match; it’s important to warm up, cool down, and stretch after each session.
It’s also important to avoid overstraining yourself. If you want to improve as an athlete, it’s important to gradually build the intensity of your workouts, such as adding more weight to your lifts, striving to run faster, or even exercising across more sessions in a given week. When increasing your efforts, do so gradually and iteratively so you don’t push yourself too far.
5. Avoid overexerting yourself
Similarly, don’t push yourself too far past your natural limits. It’s a good thing to challenge yourself physically, but not to the point where it jeopardizes your health or safety. Whenever you consider a new way to challenge yourself, take the time to analyze whether it’s an appropriate challenge; doing too much too quickly is a recipe for disaster.
6. Rest and recover
When training and after matches, it’s vital to spend adequate time resting and recovering. Your body needs time to heal and rebuild after your sessions – especially the tough ones. Get plenty of water, eat plenty of whole foods (including ample protein), avoid training similar muscle groups more than one day in a row, and get enough sleep.
7. Take mild injuries seriously
If you suffer a mild sports injury, don’t just “play through the pain.” Stop training for the moment and give your body the time it needs to fully recover. If you don’t, you could set yourself up for a much more serious injury – and one that forcibly removes you from the competition.
8. Cross-train
Athletes are frequently encouraged to cross-train – in other words, they’re encouraged to practice many different kinds of activities in the course of training and exercising. For example, if you’re a runner, you can cross-train by cycling and swimming.
Responding To A Sports Injury
What happens if your sports injury prevention strategies fail and you end up with an injury?
A. Get to safety
In the chaos of the field, players may not immediately recognize that you’re injured, or realize the extent to which you’re injured. It’s therefore important to get yourself to safety as soon as possible.
B. Put together an action plan
Your response depends on the severity of your injury. Mild to moderate injuries can go away on their own without medical intervention, but if you can’t put weight on your injury, if you’ve suffered significant trauma, or if you need urgent attention, you’ll need to take action. In most cases, your best bet is to visit an urgent care facility or an emergency room.
C. Start treating immediately
Depending on the injury, it may make sense to start treating it immediately. For example, after a sprained ankle, you can take pressure off your foot, elevated it, and apply ice to it.
Sports injuries are never fun, and some of them simply can’t be helped. But if you apply thoughtfulness and discipline to your training routine, you should be able to prevent most of them.
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