While Los Angeles is an ideal city for year-round sports weather wise, the summertime tends to bring about more sports-related injuries than any other season. As a double board certified sports medicine doctor and orthopedic surgeon, I’ve seen thousands of summer sports-related injuries that could have been prevented if only the athlete had been taught to take some simple precautions as a young athlete or before starting a new workout.
While nothing can completely remove the risk of experiencing a sports injury when you practice, below are some practical steps on how you can prevent sports injuries this summer.
Types of Sports Related Injuries
Sports injuries can generally happen because of two things: trauma and overuse.
Traumatic sports injuries occur after a blow or force. Kerri Strug’s 1996 vault on a broken ankle in Atlanta and Joe Theismann’s compound leg fracture during a 1985 football game are just some of the many examples of televised traumatic sports injuries.
Injuries resulting from overuse are certainly less dramatic (and YouTube worthy), but they are much more commonly experienced by professional and non-professional athletes alike. Overuse injuries are typically caused by putting repetitive stress on the body without allowing time for the body to heal. For example, when you start an endurance sport like running and try to do too much too quickly, the increase in activity can lead to injuries.
Common Summer Sports Injuries
Sports Knee Injuries
Combine the knee’s complexity and susceptibility to injury with the fact that you use your knee for almost everything, and you’ve got an easy target for summer sports medicine injuries. The most common complaints among athletes are fractures, dislocation, ligament pain and injury, and bursitis and tendonitis.
Sports Sprains and Strains
Sprains and strains are some of the most common types of injuries in any sport. They often occur alongside a sudden increase in the duration, intensity, or frequency of an activity (like summer sports). These injuries are similar, but involve different types of body tissue. A sprain is a stretch and/or tear of a ligament, while a strain is an injury to a muscle and/or tendon.
To help prevent you from experiencing a sports injury that at the most ruins your career and at the least ruins your summer, here are some easy sports injury prevention tips that you can put in place immediately to reduce your risk:
1. Fuel your body
Good nutrition can enhance sporting performance. Eat a balanced diet full of nutrient-dense foods: healthy carbs, lean protein, and fats to keep you feeling energized and for faster recovery.
Drink water, too: 8 eight-ounce glasses of water per day is the standard recommendation, but if you’re exercising or outside in the sun, you’ll need more. Staying hydrated helps to prevent cramps, heat exhaustion, heat stroke, and other sports related injuries.
2. Get plenty of sleep
Sleep is the time when your body repairs itself, so getting enough of it is crucial for athletic performance and preventing injury. Plus, as The Sleep Foundation points out, “when athletes practice or learn new skills, sleep helps form memories and contributes to improved performance in the future.”
Most people need about eight hours of sleep per night, but very active athletes might need more like nine to ten hours of rest per night to perform at their best.
3. Warm up and cool down
Warming up before exercise slowly increases your heart rate, blood pressure, and blood flow to muscles, making it less likely you’ll sustain injuries or feel sore after an activity. Start with some light walking or jogging before moving on to stretching both before and after your workout or sport. Cool down to slowly decrease your body temperature, lower your heart rate, and further reduce your risk of injury.
4. Consistency is key
Athletes who train most consistently tend to be injured less frequently. An article in CNN recently highlighted the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic had on the increased number of professional sports injuries after major restrictions were lifted. Not only were athletes across all sports experiencing higher levels of overuse injuries due to the lack of rest in their now tightly packed schedules – lack of access to the gym and outdoor spaces during lockdowns took a significant toll on some athlete’s bodies.
Bottom line – moderate physical activity daily will help prevent sports injuries on days with more intense physical activity.
5. Set realistic goals
Use the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine’s Ten Percent Rule to keep you from taking on too much too soon:
“When changing your activity level, increase it in increments of no more than 10% per week. If you normally walk 2 miles a day and want to increase your fitness level, do not try to suddenly walk 4 miles. Slowly build up to more miles each week until you reach your higher goal. When strength training, use the 10% rule as your guide and increase your weights gradually.”
6. Cross-train
In addition to numerous other benefits, cross training is one of the most highly effective sports injury prevention strategies.
Cross-training gives the muscles that you regularly use as an athlete time to rest, which helps to reduce overuse injuries. It also affords a way for athletes to continue being active without putting too much repetitive stress on their bodies. This is especially helpful for athletes who are injured and not able to participate in their main sport.
7. Listen to your body
It’s normal to feel sore after activity, but if your pain persists or increases it might be time to take a step back and evaluate if you’re pushing your body too much. Adjust your level of activity to the signals your body is sending you, even if that means dialing it back a bit. Ultimately, your body will acclimate and become stronger as your physical activity grows and you’ll be happy you gave yourself the patience you needed instead of taking yourself out of the game.
Looking for a sports medicine surgeon in Los Angeles to treat your sports medicine injury? Call our Van Nuys office to get started..
