10.1: Injury Prevention And The Rehabilitation Of Injury

Question 1

What are the two types of injury?

Answer 1

• acute injuries
• chronic injuries

Question 2

What is an acute injuries?

Answer 2

• a sudden injury caused by a specific impact or traumatic event where sharp pain is felt immediately.

Question 3

Symptoms of an acute injury?

Answer 3

• sudden, severe pain
• swelling around the injured site
• not being able to bear weight
• restricted movement
• extreme leg or arm weakness
• protruding bone or joint that is visibly out of place

Question 4

What are examples of acute injuries?

Answer 4

• fractures
• dislocations
• strains
• sprains

Question 5

What is a fracture?

Answer 5

• a break or crack in a bone is a fracture and it can fracture in different ways.

Question 6

What are the two types of fracture?

Answer 6

• simple/closed fracture: clean break to the bone and doesn’t penetrate through the skin and damage surrounding tissue.
• compound/open fracture: when the soft tissue or skin had been damaged. These are more serious as there is a higher risk of infection.

Question 7

What are dislocations?

Answer 7

• occur at joints and are very painful
• happens when the end of bones are forced out of position
• in sport, dislocations often occur with a fall or contact with another player, for example football tackles.
• they are often very easy to see as the bone looks visibly out of place.

Question 8

What are strains?

Answer 8

• often called a pulled or torn muscle, a strain occurs when muscle fibres are stretched too far and tear.
• occur regularly in team games - contact with other players and accelerating and decelerating suddenly.

Question 9

What are sprains?

Answer 9

• occur to ligaments, which are strong bonds of tissue around joints that join bone to bone.
• when playing sport where there is lots of twisting and turning, and excessive force is applied to a joint, a sprain can occur where the ligament is stretched too far and tears.

Question 10

What are chronic injuries?

Answer 10

• often referred to as overuse injuries
• occurs over a period of time after repeated or continual stress on hard or soft tissue.
• pain when you compete
• a full ache when at rest
• swelling
• e.g. tennis elbow
• occurs due to insufficient recovery time

Question 11

What are examples of chronic injuries?

Answer 11

• achilles tendonitis
• stress fracture
• lateral epicondylitis

Question 12

What is achilles tendonitis?

Answer 12

• overuse of the achilles tendon, the bond of tissues that connects calf muscles at the back of the lower leg to your heel bone.
• most commonly occurs in runners who have increased the intensity and duration of their runs.
• also common in middle-aged people who play sports such as tennis and basketball.

Question 13

What is a stress fracture?

Answer 13

• an over-use injury where the area becomes tender and swollen
• most common in weight bearing bone in the legs
• often, there is an increase in the amount of exercises or the intensity of an activity is increased too quickly.

Question 14

When do stress fractures occur?

Answer 14

• it occurs when muscles become fatigued so they are no longer able to absorb the added shock of exercises.
• the fatigued muscle eventually transfers the stress overload to the bone and the result is a tiny crack called a stress fracture.

Question 15

What is lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow)?

Answer 15

• usually created by overusing the muscles attached to your elbow and used to straighten your wrist.
• if the muscles are strained, tiny tears and inflammation can develop near the lateral epicondyle (the bony lump) on the outside or your elbow.

Question 16

What are injury prevention methods?

Answer 16

• adequate warm up
• foam roller
• screening (elite performers)
• CRY + ECG

Question 17

What is screening?

Answer 17

• identifies risks of complications from exercise, prepare performers for their sport, enhance performance and reduce injury.
• can save lives - CRY (cardiac risk in the young) and ECG.
• can also identify musculoskeletal conditioning an athlete which can highlight any past or current injuries.

Question 18

What is the disadvantage of screening?

Answer 18

• not 100% accurate and may miss a problem (false negative or positive identifying a problem that doesn’t exist)

Question 19

examples of protective equipment:

Answer 19

• shin pads
• mouth guard
• eye-guard (squash)
• goalkeeper kit

Question 20

Why is a warm up important?

Answer 20

• increases the body’s muscle temperature
• heart rate and respiratory rate increase, which increases the amount of oxygen and blood flow to the muscles. This prepares the muscles, tendons and joints for strenuous activity.

Question 21

What is a warm up?

Answer 21

Three stages:

1) cardiovascular exercise, e.g, jogging to increase HR.
2) stretching/flexibility exercises
3) movement patterns, e.g. dribbling in hockey.

Question 22

Flexibility training

Answer 22

• should invoice the joints and muscles that will be most active during the activity.

Question 23

What is active stretching?

Answer 23

• involves the performer working on one joint pushing it beyond its point of resistance, lengthening the muscles and connective tissue surrounding it.
• e.g. lifting leg up and holding it in position.

Question 24

What is passive stretching?

Answer 24

• when a stretch occurs with the help of external force, such as another part of your body, a partner or wall.

Question 25

What is static stretching?

Answer 25

• stretching while not moving.
• it involves holding a muscle in the furthest point you can for up to 30 seconds.
• e.g. trying to touch your toes.

Question 26

What is ballistic stretching?

Answer 26

• involves performing a stretch with swinging or bouncing movements to push a body part even further.
• this should only be performed by an individual who is extremely flexible. E.g. a gymnast or dancer

Question 27

Taping:

Answer 27

• can help with stability and support to reduce the risk of injury
• tape used for muscles is more elastic applied to skin for more controlled sport as the muscle moves.
• kinesiology - expands as the muscle contracts.

Question 28

Bracing:

Answer 28

• more substantial than taping, often involving hinged supports
• ankle and knee are most common
• aim to prevent further injury
• used to give extra stability to muscles and joints that are weak or have been previously injured.

Question 29

What are injury rehabilitation methods:

Answer 29

1) proprioceptive training
2) strength training
3) hyperbaric chambers
4) cryotherapy
5) hydrotherapy
6) compression garments
7) massage benefits
8) foam rollers
9) cold therapy
10) ice baths

Question 30

What is proprioceptive training?

Answer 30

• subconscious process using a system of receptor nerves located in the muscles, joints and tendons.
• for smooth co-ordinated movements, the brain needs to have accurate knowledge of arm and let position and how fast these body parts are moving.
• proprioceptors deliver vital information about this, together our visual m and auditory senses and our sense of touch. Following injury this is impaired.

Question 31

When is proprioceptive training used?

Answer 31

• used as hopping, jumping and balance exercises to restore lost proprioception and teach the body to control the position of an injured joint subconsciously.
• e.g. sprained ankle and balance board.

Question 32

What is strength training?

Answer 32

• uses a resistance of some kind.
• prepares the body for exercise reducing the chance of injury.
• examples, machine weights, free weights, body weight, therabands.

Question 33

What are free weights?

Answer 33

• free weights such as dumb bells and kettlebells have to be controlled as they are lifted.
• by not relying on a machine, the muscles have to stabilise the weight as well as lift it.

Question 34

What are machine weights?

Answer 34

• in the early stages of an injury the focus can be on just improving strength, starting with low weights and gradually building this up.

Question 35

Body weights:

Answer 35

• using the body as the resistance often involves core body exercises such as the plank.
• improving core strength helps balance and posture and reduces any imbalances that could lead to injury.

Question 36

Therabands:

Answer 36

• made of latex and can have different strengths.
• light resistance bands are used for rehabilitation and as the injury improves, bands with greater resistance are used.

Question 37

Hyperbaric chambers:

Answer 37

• aim is to reduce the recovery time for an injury.
• 100% pure oxygen, sometimes a mask is worn.
• more oxygen can be diffused to the injured area.
• excess oxygen dissolved into the blood plasma where it can reduce swelling and both stimulate white blood cells acidity and increase the blood supply at the injured area.

Question 38

Cryotherapy:

Answer 38

• use of cooling to treat injuries (POLICE)
• POLICE: protection, optimal loading, ice compression, elevation
• while protecting the injury, gentle motion should be attempted so that progressive loading of the muscle stops the muscle tightness and therefore prevents any delays in returning to normal.
• used for treating muscle strains.

Question 39

Hydrotherapy:

Answer 39

• takes place in warm water and used to improve blood circulation, relieve pain and relax muscles.
• 35-37 degrees Celsius
• the buoyancy of the water helps support body weight, reducing the load on joints allowing for more exercise to be permitted on land.

Question 40

Compression garments:

Answer 40

• used in medicine to try to improve blood circulation and prevent medical problems such as deep vein thrombosis occurring.
• compression garments help blood lactate removal, reduce inflammation and symptoms associated with DOMS.

Question 41

Massage benefits:

Answer 41

• increases blood flow to soft tissues so more oxygen and nutrients can pass through to help repair any damage.
• removed lactic acid
• causes stretching soft tissues to relieve tension
• breaks down scar tissue which, if not removed, can lead to mobility problems in muscles, tendons and ligaments.

Question 42

Foam rollers:

Answer 42

• they can release tension and tightness in a muscle, as well as between the muscles and fascia.
• they can be used to prevent injury and improve mobility.
• foam rolling uses body weight and you literally roll your body on the foam roller to try to relax the muscle.

Question 43

Cold therapy:

Answer 43

• useful after intense exercise where it can target any minor aches and pains.
• ice gives pain relief and causes vasoconstriction of the blood vessels, this decreases blood flow and reduces swelling or bleeding
• a decrease in swelling (oedema) enables the muscles to have more movement.
• ice can also reduce muscle spasms by decreasing motor activity.

Question 44

Ice baths:

Answer 44

• the cold water causes the blood vessels to tighten and drains the blood from the legs. The legs fill with new blood that invigorates the muscles with oxygen to help the cells function better.
• lactic acid that has been built up is removed through the removal of blood.
• ice baths are now used among most professional sports people who train and play regularly.
• the purpose is to flush lactic acid from the muscles and therefore reducing soreness.

Question 45

What is the importance of sleep?

Answer 45

• some of the rebuilding of the damage done to muscle cells caused by strenuous exercise is done during sleepy. Deep sleep is important for muscle recovery.
• the deepest part of sleep is the third stages of non-REMsleep. Here, brain waves are at their slowest and blood flow is directed away from the brain towards the muscles to restore energy.
• most athletes have a minimum of 8-9 hours sleep each night.

Question 46

What is the importance of nutrition:

Answer 46

• crucial for recovery after exercise
• during exercise, muscle glycogen shores decrease so they need to be replenished when exercise is finished.
• in the 20 minutes immediately after exercise the body is most able to restore lost glycogen.
• athletes consume a 3:1 to 4:1 ratio of carbs to protein. This combination of carbs to protein helps the body re-synthesise muscle glycogen more efficiently than carbs alone.
• in addition, a liquid can be absorbed much faster and a performer can also rehydrate at the same time.