Classification of injuries
Sports injuries are usually classified into several types, each of which includes subtypes, often associated with specific sports or physical activity. With the exception of fractures, in the treatment of which physiotherapeutic methods are not applied, the following types of sports injuries are distinguished:
• tendinitis and tendosynovitis;
• bursitis;
• capsulitis;
• sprains;
• overstrain, tears and muscle ruptures;
• Injury to the groin;
• Osgood-Schlatter disease;
• damage to the ligaments and cartilages of the knee joint.
Many injuries in sports can be avoided by adhering to simple rules.
• With regular training, you should contact a specialist in sports medicine to find the optimal set of warm-up and final exercises for this sport. These exercises must be performed before and after each workout.
• It is very important that the shoes are properly chosen and match both the sport and the surface type of the playing field. She should fix her leg well.
• Adequate frequency and duration of rest periods between trainings also reduce the likelihood of injury. In particular, this applies to chronic injuries,
• Choosing the right shoes is very important. It must match the sport and ensure a good fixation of the foot and ankle, for example the usual stretching of ligaments or muscles. If the injury still occurred, the sports rehabilitologist carries out a set of measures on the formula known in the sports world - PLDP (peace, ice, pressure, ascent). This scheme is the standard of first aid for sports injuries and is applied until the severity of the injury is determined. In the first 24 hours after the injury, no other measures are usually taken, except for ultrasound. There are a number of physiotherapeutic methods that can be used to treat sports injuries.
• Ultrasound
Ultrasonic waves improve the healing process, accelerating (and thus shortening) the inflammatory response, helping to eliminate toxins and stimulating the growth of new cells. Due to these properties, ultrasound is successfully used in physiotherapy.
• Massage
Massage improves blood circulation, accelerates the elimination of toxins through the lymphatic system, relieves muscle tension and pain, promotes resorption of scars. Studies show that, although massage does not lead to significant acceleration of physical recovery in trained people, it has a favorable psychological effect.
• Exercise
Physical exercises are divided into two groups: passive, in which movements in the damaged limb or joint are performed without active participation of the patient, and active, in which the patient performs movements on his own. Active movements are isometric, in which muscles contract, but the limb remains immobile, or isotonic - muscle contractions lead to limb movements. Treatment often begins with passive movements. In this case, the doctor can evaluate the amplitude of limb movements and draw conclusions about the localization and severity of pain and muscle tension. Then they move on to active isometric movements that help maintain muscle strength and improve blood supply to the affected area, leaving the affected joint motionless. At the end of the treatment course, simulators are used to improve athletic fitness and endurance training. In the course of the recovery process, the sets of exercises carefully differentiated for the stages of treatment are appointed. Ultrasound can be used, for example, to treat hematoma on the thigh. They are aimed at relieving muscle tension, increasing the elasticity of muscles, ligaments and tendons and building muscle strength in order to adapt to the loads associated with a particular sport.
• Thermotherapy
After elimination of inflammation, the effect of heat can be used to relax tense muscles, improve local blood circulation and reduce pain before the course of massage, as well as in preparation for physical therapy. Infrared lamps are used for heating surface tissues, and for deep-lying tissues (muscles and joints) - a device for short-wave diathermy. In addition, it is possible to use interference currents with the application of electrodes around the damaged area. An electric current is passed between the two electrodes, which contributes to the regeneration of tissues, their warming up and reduction of pain. To restore the volume of movements after injury, various devices are used. Some of them provide dosed resistance when limb movements.
• Laser therapy
Energy waves generated by a laser act on tissues like ultrasound. However, the laser beam can be aimed at the affected tissue much more accurately than the ultrasound. Therefore, laser therapy is preferable to ultrasound therapy. Many popular sports are associated with a potential risk of injury, such as rupture of ligaments or muscle strain. Most of these injuries are well amenable to treatment by physical rehabilitation methods. Most skeletal muscles are attached to the bones on both sides with the help of tendons. Tendons are bundles of fibers of strong connective tissue. Sometimes they are surrounded by a shell, inside which there is a kind of lubricant - synovial fluid.
Tendonitis
Inflammation of the tendon is called tendinitis. If the synovial vagina of the tendon is also involved in the process, talk about tenosynovitis. The reason for them is usually an unusual, unexpected or repeatedly repeated load on the muscle. Some tendons are particularly susceptible to damage:
• Tendonitis of the supraclavicular muscle. Inflammation of the tendon of the supraclavicular muscle in the shoulder joint arises as a result of an excessive or unusual load on the muscle.
• "Tennis Elbow". When the backhand strikes, the brush is lifted, and the force to hit the racket with the ball is transmitted by the tendons of the extensor muscle at the point where they are attached to the humerus. Constant excessive loads lead to small tears in this area. Tendons become inflamed and become painful.
• "The elbow of a golfer". In this case, the muscles of the forearm suffer, ensuring the flexion of the fingers and wrists.
• Acute frictional tenosynovitis. It arises because of the excessive strain on the tendons of the extensor muscles of the wrist and fingers. The risk of such damage exists in those sports that are associated with sharp repetitive movements of the brush.
• Knee tendonitis. Wide heads of the quadriceps of the front surface of the thigh are attached to the knee cap with the help of a strong tendon. The cause of tendonitis can be trauma, provoked by certain movements - for example, sharp jerks up from the support or jumps.
Inflammation of the Achilles tendon. The reasons for it may be excessive tension of calf muscles, sharp stretching or badly picked up shoes. Treatment of such injuries includes a set of measures according to the PLLDP formula, ultrasound, stretching exercises and muscle strengthening.
• Treatment of "tennis elbow" includes the rest of the affected body part, massage and stretching exercises to develop the elbow joint. Before you start training again, you need to undergo a course of exercises aimed at strengthening the muscles. Bunches are called strong bundles of connective tissue that serve to stabilize and connect the bones in the joints. They form so-called capsules around some joints, as well as the similarity of "bracelets" around the wrist and ankle, through which the muscles, tendons, nerves and blood vessels pass. The blood supply of the ligaments is poor, so they are easily damaged and slowly restored after trauma.
Sprain
With unnatural movement of the joint, there is a risk of stretching or rupturing of the ligaments, which are accompanied by a restriction of the normal amplitude of movements. In game sports, stretches of knee and ankle joints are most often observed. Any sharp rotational movement can lead to the stretching of the longitudinal or transverse ligament of the knee, which is accompanied by swelling and pain. Often the joints of the ankle joint also suffer from strains, especially when the game passes on an uneven surface. The leg in this place is usually turned inwards, as a result of which the three ligaments connecting the tibia with the foot are stretched or torn. The ankle swells, there are spasms of muscles holding the joint, which further limits its mobility. Treatment includes a set of measures for the formula of PLD, ultrasound, laser therapy and heat treatment before using isometric, postural exercises, as well as exercises for balance. Any sharp muscle contraction can lead to damage to the muscle fibers, especially at the time of their greatest contraction. The degree of damage can be different: from simple stretching (which is often said: "pulled the muscle") to tearing, and in some cases - and muscle rupture. The muscles of the legs are most sensitive to such injuries, especially when the athlete pays insufficient attention to the "warming up" of the muscles before the intense load.
Types of injuries
Muscles are well-blooded and therefore heal quickly enough. However, abundant blood supply increases the likelihood of hemorrhages in the muscle tissue and formation of hematomas.
• Muscles of the hip: quadriceps, biceps and adductor muscles. The wide quadriceps muscle is located on the front surface of the thigh, the biceps muscle is on the back surface, and the adductor muscles cover the inner surface and participate in turning the legs inside. In any of these muscles, tears can occur while running at speed. The quadriceps muscle, in addition, can be damaged by impact on a heavy ball, especially on wet soil or when running under a slope. The biceps femoris is exposed to the greatest risk of damage when running uphill, and the resulting muscles - in case of sharp bends (for example, in football) or when pushing away from starting blocks in running competitions. A severe muscle tear can cause the athlete to get off the track - with intense pain and intramuscular hemorrhage, which is visible under the skin with hematoma or painful densification (with tearing in the depth of the muscle).
• Calf muscles
Calf muscles in athletes often are overly tense, which increases the risk of their damage in uncontrolled movements in the ankle. There is a sudden sharp pain in the region of the shin, which increases in position on tiptoe or when tilted forward. When performing passive exercises, the physiotherapist moves the injured part of the victim's body.
• Rupture of long biceps head
The biceps, providing lifting of the forearm upwards, in the area of the shoulder is divided into two heads. A rupture of the long head is typical for such sports as weightlifting or rowing. Trauma is accompanied by massive hemorrhage. The contracted part of the muscle is prominent on the upper part of the arm in the form of a deformation. In such cases, surgical intervention may be required.
• The patient has a rupture of the long bicep head. He will need a surgical operation to restore the connection of the biceps tendon to the bone, and then a course of physical rehabilitation. Many athletes (for example, sprinters) often suffer from stretching of the muscles of the lower extremities, especially the calves. Often this is due to excessive muscle strain as a result of prolonged training. In the cavity of the knee joint there are two cartilages - the so-called menisci. They are located between the femoral and tibial bones and prevent their friction against each other. In addition, there are two cruciate ligaments that cross the cavity of the knee joint and hold the knee in the correct position. However, any imbalance in the condition of the muscles can lead to the extension of the cruciate ligaments. This happens, for example, with excessive loads on the knee, improper rectification, and also in cases where the outer quadriceps are more developed internal. Thus the knee joint becomes more and more unstable and painful; involuntary rectification or flexion of the lower limb may occur.