Finally, spring is in the air. Scraping our
ice-covered car windows, “cocooning” in our
house every night, bundling up in four layers of
clothes just to stay warm outside is history.
With warmer temperatures arriving, a rite of
passage for many of us is to get active by
playing golf, tennis, jogging or gardening after
sitting on the couch all winter watching CSI or
Dancing with the Stars. This is a huge problem
that often results in injury and more inactivity
or couch-sitting.
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One of the most
popular fair weather sports in
Canada is soccer, the most popular
sport worldwide. Like any other
sport or activity, no matter the age
or skill level, there are tips and
suggestions to be aware of to avoid
or at least minimize risk of injury
and a premature end to your season.
Many injuries,
including soccer injuries, are
generally classified as either
overuse or traumatic. Overuse
injuries occur over time,
accumulate, causing stress to
muscles, joints and soft tissues
without appropriate time for
healing. These injuries begin as
minor, nagging aches and pains, and
deteriorate into a more painful,
debilitating injury if they are not
treated early. |
Traumatic injuries are a result of a
sudden force or impact to the body
and can range from very subtle to
very damaging.
For soccer, the number of severe
injuries is very low, but the number
of general injuries is quite high.
The practice injury rate in soccer
is around 3-4 injuries per 100 hours
of play. Game injury rate is much
higher. Game injury rates per 100
hours of play for comparison, of
other sports include rugby and
lacrosse 3, running 1.1, basketball
1.4, tennis 0.5, walking 0.2. Rates
above 0.5 are considered high.
If you have played
soccer, chances are you have had
injury. Common soccer injuries
include: |
 |
* Ankle sprains – most common, is a
result of stretching or tearing of ligaments
surrounding the ankle.
* Achilles tendonitis – overuse injury
resulting in inflammation of Achilles tendon (in
the back of the ankle).
* Concussion – result of a sudden
impact or blow to the head or quick movement of
the head.
* Groin pull – strain or overstretching
of the adductor (inner thigh) muscles.
* Patellafemoral Pain Syndrome – pain
under or around the patella (knee cap).
* Shin splints – generalized pain in
the front or side of the lower leg due to
accumulative physical stresses.
* Low Back Pain – sudden or
accumulative physical stresses resulting in low
back muscle and/or joint pain.
* Knee Ligament/Cartilage Injury –
usually sudden force or sudden stopping/starting
or quickly changing directions
causes tear or
excessive stretching.
Injury prevention is your best bet to minimize
your risk of injury and pain. Avoiding the
“weekend warrior” syndrome or training too often
because you realized you were a couch potato all
winter is important to understand.
Other helpful tips include:
* wear and use proper sports equipment
i.e. soccer shoes, shinguards and maybe even a
mouthguard.
* proper warm up.
* listen to your body; pain is a
warning sign.
* train for your sport.
* cross train for overall conditioning.
 |
Treatment for an
acute injury (an injury that is less
than one week old) should follow the
P.R.I.C.E. principle. Prevent
painful movement of the injured
area, Rest, Ice, Compression
and Elevation. Rest
will prevent further injury, Ice
will stop swelling/inflammation,
Compression will limit swelling
and support the injured area and
Elevation will reduce swelling
by using gravity to reduce excessive
blood flow to the injured area.
PRICE is very important to
initiate as soon as possible
following an injury.
Recently in Sports
Illustrated (April 13, 2009), an
article discussed the concern about
kids and exercise. Everyone is
aware of the level of inactivity in
today’s society, but this article
also warned about the increasing
concern of overtraining. More and
more injuries are occurring because
of year-round training, parents
pushing their children too much and
not adding variety to a kid’s
activity/sports calendar. |
“By introducing moderation, variety and rest
into an everyday sports routine, a child’s risk
can be cut to nearly zero.” A lot of the
problem falls on the parents. Children need
someone to look out for them, because they don’t
often understand the situation and can’t always
look out for themselves.
 |
Whether an injury is
acute or chronic, get checked out by
a health care provider experienced
with sports injuries. Appropriate
options include a chiropractor,
physiotherapist or sports
physician. A recent journal article
(Chiropractic and Osteopathy,
2009;17:3) suggested the following
criteria and principles should be
demonstrated by a chiropractor (and
by extension any health care
provider) when deciding who is
suitable for managing athletic
injuries:
* minimum
treatment time 15-20 minutes
* treatment
is multimodal in nature
* treatment
should contain active (exercises)
and passive components
* no
mandatory X-rays required for
treatment
* no
predetermined treatment schedules or
prepaid contracts of care
* use of
medical terminology and diagnosis |
When trying to select or find someone to refer
to, ask questions!
Good luck, have fun and play hard and safe!
