Common leg injuries are some of the most inhibiting and destructive injuries that can occur. Countless studies have been conducted to reveal if there is a way to possibly prevent these occurrences. Symptoms often develop from everyday usage, overuse, or an injury. Leg injuries are most likely to occur from sports activities. Most of these leg injuries in children and teens occur from playing sports or falls. The risk for these types of injuires increase during contact sports and high-speed sports. Older adults have a higher risk for injures because of the lack of muscle mass and bone strength. Acute injuries may occur from a direct blow, a fall, or from twisting, jerking, or bending abnormally.
Types of Leg Injuries
There are many different areas of the leg that can be injured with various types of activities. Unusual movements can affect certain parts of the body. During sports especially, it is very easy for an athlete to turn their body in a way that they are no used to. In the following sections, common leg injuries will be discussed. Hamstring. …show more content…
In Dina Fine Maron’s article published in Scientific American, she describes the first U.S. match of the 2014 World Cup, forward Jozy Altidore went down with a grimace. The audience would later find out that he had pulled his left hamstring. Scientific American spoke with the director of the Injury Prevention and Sports Outreach Programs at the New England Musculoskeletal Institute, Thomas Trojian, about hamstring injuries.
A pulled hamstring is not necessarily more common in extreme heat. Trojian says it is related to the overuse to of the muscles and the extended playing season. Researchers have not yet found a direct correlation with warm temperatures. Failure to stay hydrated may cause the muscles to not fire at the right rate, but researchers have not found the connection. There are other risk factors that may lead up to an injury to the hamstring. Once one has hurt his hamstring, that individual is more likely to hurt it again. Muscle does not repair the same way that bone does because it lays down scar tissue. Hamstrings are commonly hurt when one takes an awkward stride; as they go to stride, their muscles intensities as the leg is extending, and it’s the lengthening of the muscle that tears it. So what exactly is a pulled hamstring? A pulled hamstring is when the connection between the tendon and the muscle is partially separated. To be classified as a complete tear, the muscle fully separates from the bone. The hamstring is attached to the bone all along the muscle. Strengthening and eccentric exercises can be done to prevent hamstring injuries. It is very common that hamstring exercise are added to training programs because of the high occurrences of hamstring injuries and the proven effectiveness of prevention with these exercises. A mildly pulled hamstring will cause the the player to be out about ten days. However if a player were to get a grade 2, separation from muscle, they would be out for about four to six weeks. If there is a way to prevent hamstring pulls, athletes would greatly benefit from this research. Medial, Lateral and Syndesmotic Ankle Sprains. Medial and syndesmotic ankle sprains are more severe injuries and in turn, cause longer recovery times. Medial sprains occur by excessive eversion and dorsiflexion, causing the deltoid ligament to be injured (Chinn & Hertel, 2010). Patients with this type of ankle sprain will have major swelling and discoloration on the medial side of the ankle and cannot bear weight. Syndesmotic ankle sprains occur with the disruption of the syndesmotic (or interosseous) ligament that stabilizes the inferior tibiofibular joint; injury to this ligament ensues with a mechanism of excessive external rotational or forced dorsiflexion. This can happen in combination with medial or lateral ankle sprains or by itself. Injuries to the syndesmotic ligament can take months to heal due to limited blood supply and difficulty in allowing the ankle to be immobilized. Patients will present a lack of swelling but will be extremely tender over the distal tibiofibular joint. Lateral ankle sprains are very common injuries suffered by athletes. It occurs, most commonly, by excessive inversion and plantar flexion of the reafoot on
Types of Leg Injuries
There are many different areas of the leg that can be injured with various types of activities. Unusual movements can affect certain parts of the body. During sports especially, it is very easy for an athlete to turn their body in a way that they are no used to. In the following sections, common leg injuries will be discussed. Hamstring. …show more content…
In Dina Fine Maron’s article published in Scientific American, she describes the first U.S. match of the 2014 World Cup, forward Jozy Altidore went down with a grimace. The audience would later find out that he had pulled his left hamstring. Scientific American spoke with the director of the Injury Prevention and Sports Outreach Programs at the New England Musculoskeletal Institute, Thomas Trojian, about hamstring injuries.
A pulled hamstring is not necessarily more common in extreme heat. Trojian says it is related to the overuse to of the muscles and the extended playing season. Researchers have not yet found a direct correlation with warm temperatures. Failure to stay hydrated may cause the muscles to not fire at the right rate, but researchers have not found the connection. There are other risk factors that may lead up to an injury to the hamstring. Once one has hurt his hamstring, that individual is more likely to hurt it again. Muscle does not repair the same way that bone does because it lays down scar tissue. Hamstrings are commonly hurt when one takes an awkward stride; as they go to stride, their muscles intensities as the leg is extending, and it’s the lengthening of the muscle that tears it. So what exactly is a pulled hamstring? A pulled hamstring is when the connection between the tendon and the muscle is partially separated. To be classified as a complete tear, the muscle fully separates from the bone. The hamstring is attached to the bone all along the muscle. Strengthening and eccentric exercises can be done to prevent hamstring injuries. It is very common that hamstring exercise are added to training programs because of the high occurrences of hamstring injuries and the proven effectiveness of prevention with these exercises. A mildly pulled hamstring will cause the the player to be out about ten days. However if a player were to get a grade 2, separation from muscle, they would be out for about four to six weeks. If there is a way to prevent hamstring pulls, athletes would greatly benefit from this research. Medial, Lateral and Syndesmotic Ankle Sprains. Medial and syndesmotic ankle sprains are more severe injuries and in turn, cause longer recovery times. Medial sprains occur by excessive eversion and dorsiflexion, causing the deltoid ligament to be injured (Chinn & Hertel, 2010). Patients with this type of ankle sprain will have major swelling and discoloration on the medial side of the ankle and cannot bear weight. Syndesmotic ankle sprains occur with the disruption of the syndesmotic (or interosseous) ligament that stabilizes the inferior tibiofibular joint; injury to this ligament ensues with a mechanism of excessive external rotational or forced dorsiflexion. This can happen in combination with medial or lateral ankle sprains or by itself. Injuries to the syndesmotic ligament can take months to heal due to limited blood supply and difficulty in allowing the ankle to be immobilized. Patients will present a lack of swelling but will be extremely tender over the distal tibiofibular joint. Lateral ankle sprains are very common injuries suffered by athletes. It occurs, most commonly, by excessive inversion and plantar flexion of the reafoot on