As an athlete, we strive to become the best we possibly can be for our respective teams. Athletes put in extra time in the gym, stay after practice to improve on skills that may need improvement, or they practice extra on their own time. These are the signs of a diligent athlete. Unfortunately, no matter the amount of extra time you put in to help better yourself, the risk of injury is still there. Injury can be reduced by eating right, stretching, and working out, but nothing can stop a freak accident. Sport injuries can be detrimental to an athlete’s career. If athletes can become more knowledgeable about the type of injuries and risks to not dealing with them correctly, the number of injuries a year can decrease.

“Sport Injuries” are injuries that happen when playing sports or during exercising. These injuries are not caused by one thing, but a variety of different reasons. One of these reasons can be improper gear. Not wearing cleats when playing soccer makes you susceptible to ankle injuries. Another reason for injury could be poor training practices. If your body is not in the proper condition to compete at the necessary level of the sports competition, then that could be a reason for injury. Some of the most common sports injuries are: Sprains and strains, knee injuries, swollen muscles, Achilles tendon injuries, pain along the shin bone, fractures, and dislocations. Injuries could either be acute or chronic. Acute injuries are sudden and occur when playing or exercising. An example of this injury would be a sprained ankle, a strained back or a fractured hand. Some signs that indicate an acute injury would be:

Sudden severe pain
Swelling
Not being able to place weight on inflicted area
An extremity is very tender (arm, elbow, wrist, leg, knee)
Not being able to maneuver a joint properly
Extreme leg or arm weakness
A bone or joint that is visibly out of place

A chronic injury often occurs after playing a sport or exercise for a prolonged period of time. Some of the signs for this include:

Pain when you play
Pain when you exercise
A dull ache when you rest
Swelling

When dealing with treatment for an injury, you must begin with the RICE method. RICE is an acronym for the beginning steps in treatment. The “R” stands for rest. Reducing regular activities helps healing. For example, if you injured your foot, ankle or toe, the best bet would be to use a crutch to alleviate applying pressure to the inflicted area. The “I” stands for ice. Usually icing the area for 20 minutes reduces swelling and after 20 minutes, you apply heat to reduce chances of ice injury. The “C” stands for compression. Applying pressure to the injury helps reduce swelling and can also help with alignment and decrease damage done by moving around while injured. Lastly, the “E” stands for elevation. Keep the injured area able the heart to reduce swelling. Now after the RICE method has been applied, if there is additional treatment needed, there are quite a few options. One of these options are Non-steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs or NSAIDs. These are drugs like ibuprofen and aspirin that help reduce swelling and pain and can be purchased at drug stores. Immobilization is the best bet when dealing with sport injuries that result in slings, splints, casts and leg immobilizers. There are therapies that may appear unorthodox in terms of treatment such as mild electrical currents (electrostimulation). For certain cases, surgery is required to help fix either torn tendons and ligaments or align broken bones back into place. What help would surgery do if there wasn't rehabilitation that allows for doctors to help treat people with exercises and therapies for the inflicted area. Of all these types of injuries, there is one injury that has gotten a lot of publicity in recent years due to its severity. This injury is called a concussion.

According to the U.S National Library of Medicine, a concussion is a type of brain injury in its most minor form. “Technically, a concussion is a short loss of normal brain function in response to a head injury. But people often use it to describe any minor injury to the head or brain” (NLM, 1). Concussions are very common in sport, especially contact sports such as boxing, MMA, and Football. The problem with concussions is that you can never really tell whether someone may have suffered one due to the fact that the symptoms can occur much later after the injury has already happened. Some of the symptoms can occur days or even weeks after the injury with symptoms so common, it can easily be overlooked. Some of these symptoms include headaches and neck pain, mild nausea, ringing in the ears, dizziness or even feeling tired. Some more serious symptoms include seizures, trouble walking or sleeping, weakness, numbness or even decreased coordination. Repeated vomiting, confusion and slurred speech are also included. In order to properly assess a concussion, head trauma recipients are treated first to exclude them from more serious injuries such as hemorrhaging. This includes the “ABC’s” (airway, breathing, circulation) and stabilizing the cervical spine which will always be assumed to be injured in any athlete that is found unconscious after head or neck injuries. Usually, there is are a series of tests that must be done in order to diagnose a concussion. The first of these tests are neurological examinations that test the recipient on their vision, hearing, strength and sensation, balance, coordination, and reflexes. the next is a cognitive test. The doctor may conduct several tests to evaluate the recipients thinking skills. This includes memory, concentration and the ability to recall information. Although this is not an every case situation, brain imaging may be recommended for recipients who are suffering from seizures, severe headaches or repeated vomiting that may be becoming worse. The best type of imaging methods would be a Cranial Computerized Tomography (CT) scan and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI).

According to 2009 survey of U.S hospital emergency rooms, the top 3 sports for head injuries were cycling (85,389), football (46,948), and baseball/softball (38,394).
Surprisingly enough, according to a recent article written by United States Sport Academy, cheerleading ranks first in catastrophic sport injuries. Some statistics show that cheerleading is the no. 1 female sport and no. 2 in catastrophic events when compared to all sports – only American football ranks higher. the website states that “cheerleader falls from gymnastic-type stunts have been reported to have a greater impact didn't being tackled by professional football player” (USSA, 1). I happen to be close friends with a cheerleader who experienced a bad fall. She was telling me about the dramatic event, she was doing in gymnastic-type stunt and the people didn't catch her. She hit her head so hard on the pads, she has lost her sense of smell. Although this is peculiar and hard to believe, even the possibility of this happening is scary to think. A lot of athletes are extremely worried about injuries because most athletes tend to just want to play the sport. As an athlete, I usually don't like quitting on my team just because I've been injured. I personally broke my finger in a game of basketball, although I was unaware but in excruciating pain, I continued to play through it. USA Today wrote an article giving statistics of how many youths are coming into hospitals a year for injuries. The numbers are phenomenal. 1.35 million kids a year, which is equivalent to a kid every 25 seconds is heading to the hospital for a sport related injury. Most common injuries in youth sport? Sprains and strains are roughly 451,480, fractures are around 249,500, 210,640 contusions or abrasions, concussions are bringing in 163,670 athletes a year with other not stated injuries equaling out to 310,000 plus injuries. These are all youth athletes ranging from ages six to nineteen. The cost of all this rounds out to about $935 million each year according to a report out from the non-profit advocacy group Safe Kids Worldwide. (USA Today, 1). Kate Carr, Safe Kids president and CEO, says that "far too many kids are arriving emergency rooms for injuries that are predictable and preventable” (USA Today, 1). The article uses data from the US Consumer Product Safety Commission's national electronic injury surveillance system, the report focused on sports injuries related to fourteen common sports activities including football, cheerleading, soccer, and basketball. In 2012, 12% of all ER visits (163,670) involved a concussion. That is almost one concussion every three minutes and the ages of the patients ranged from 12 to 15 (USA Today, 1). While these numbers seem remarkably high already, a sports medicine physician at Loyola University Medical Center in Chicago says that the numbers might even be higher since the study only looked at ER’s and most children go to urgent care centers, their regular doctor or a sports medicine clinic (USA Today, 1). What would be worse than a child or adolescent getting injured? The child or adolescent playing through their injuries.

There was an incident that happened to a very unfortunate young woman. Her name was Brie Boothby and It happened during her high-school field hockey game in September of 2013. During the game, she was struck on the side of her head with a field hockey stick. She blacked out and when she regained consciousness, her first thought was to immediately get back into the game. “The only thought in my mind was getting back in the game,” Boothby told TODAY’s Sheinelle Jones. She also told TODAY “I thought I had to be tough. I thought I had to go back in because we were losing and I needed to support my team” (TODAY, 1). Later that night, Boothby started to feel nauseous and she began to lose her memory. She suspected that a trip to the doctors would be smart, and when at the doctors, she received the most devastating news she could have that night. The doctor had revealed to her that she suffered a severe concussion and has permanent brain injuries. She went through 10 months of physical therapy just to be able to stand up without falling over, Her grades fell and she’s been diagnosed with ADHD. Now to some, this may seem like just a freak accident but these are just the possibilities of playing through injuries. Sake Kids Worldwide held a survey of 3000 athletes, coaches and parents. the study showed that:

42 percent of kids said they downplayed or even hid an injury so they could continue to play.
53 percent of the coaches surveyed felt pressured to put injured athletes back into a game.
Almost 1/3 of the kids surveyed said it’s “normal” to play very physically in the game because it “sends a message.”

Injuries can be detrimental to a person's homeostasis, life, and career.

There are plenty of professional athletes who have had their careers ruined and ended early due to injuries. Some of these athletes are considered to be the best in their sport, (In Bo Jackson’s case, sports). Bo Jackson was the first athlete to be named an all-star in two major sports. If you watch his highlight tapes, you’d be amazed at how athletically profound he truly was. He took a hit from Kevin Walker that popped his hip out of place and required hip replacement surgery. Although making a comeback in baseball for ’93 season, it was very short lived. Another baseball player that was on the road to be the greatest of all time in his prime was Ken Griffey Jr. Griffey Jr. was a slugger hitting 630 balls out of the park! Unfortunately, he suffered knee injuries, a broken wrist, and a hamstring surgery before he retired. Monica Seles is considered to the greatest tennis player of all time, just based solely on her first five years of professional tennis. She has a total of 10 grand slams (the Itinerary of winning the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and lastly the US Open in the same year) and was stabbed between her shoulder blades in her back by who is believed to be a Steffi Graf fan, who was her rival at the time. One of the greatest sport careers of all time ruined by injury has to go to Maurice Stokes. Maurice Stokes was the pure combination of Elgin Baylor and Bill Russel. Standing at 6’7” weighing 232 lbs., primarily a center could play the 4, the 3 and even the 1. A center with the momentum of a guard in the 50s was groundbreaking. On the last game of the ’58 season, stokes hit his head on the floor while driving to the basket and on the flight back didn't feel too well. Eventually, he suffered a seizure and slipped into a coma. After waking up, he was paralyzed. Maurice Stokes, due to his injury, might have been the best basketball player that no one even speaks about due to how long ago he played. These are just examples of how injuries can become extremely detrimental to a person's entire life.

Injuries affect everyone, whether you're an athlete or not. They impact the people around you, whether they're your partner, your family or even your coach. One wrong move and the carpet of potential outcomes unfolds. What is the best way to prevent injury? Be more cautious not only for yourself but for the other players that you are competing against. Safety is most important. It’s all fun in games until someone gets hurt.

Sources

"The American Association of Neurological Surgeons." AANS. American Association of Neurological Surgeons

Cheerleading Ranks First in Catastrophic Sport Injuries." United States Sports Academy

Concussion: MedlinePlus." U.S National Library of Medicine

Healy, Michelle. "1.35 Million Youths a Year Have Serious Sports Injuries." USA Today

Murray, Elizabeth. "Teens Playing through Pain, Not Taking Sports Injuries Seriously." TODAY.com