Top Ten Most Common Injuries of Athletes Part 1

1) Muscle Pull
A muscle pull is probably the most common injury any athlete can have. They can happen anywhere in the body, not matter how long and thoroughly you stretch. Most times a muscle pull can occur from fatigue, overuse, or taking a fall. Warming up, stretching, and cooling down are all ways to help prevent muscle pulls from taking place, however nothing is ever guaranteed. Many times physical therapy is used after severe muscle pulls or tears. More however stretching and massage therapy is used to loosen the muscle up.

2 ) Neck Pain
Neck Pain is another common injury in sports, but can also be a very serious one. Sometimes athletes can get what are called, "wizers" or a sharp pain or cramping in a neck muscle. Many times this occurs by a sudden whiplash movement to the neck and shoulder area causing a small muscle to tense up and pinch. However more serious neck injury's can mean serious physical harm, such as paralysis or even death. For the minor pains in the neck the main thing people can do for it is ice the muscle down. But many hours of physical therapy come with serious injuries.

3) Shoulder Impingement
The summer before between my sophomore and junior year at Washington High School I separated my shoulder, then preceded to break it a month or so later. Shoulder injuries most of the times occur in the shoulder joint, or into the collar bone. With my injury I had a grade two AC separation. I had come back to practicing where I received a pop directly to the shoulder again which causes the separation to turn into a break. The break snapped back into place so I only had to go to physical therapy. The therapy took a month or so, and I was able to start lifting again. That year, before I transferred to Kennedy High School, I was able to play with an extra pad strapped on to it.

4) Lower Back Strain
Almost all athletes who participate in sports experience a lower back strain. Most times it’s from quickly twisting your body in an awkward way or from lifting heavy weight. The treatment for back pain fortunately is quite simple, ice it, heat it, and don't do anything to strain it again! After about a week, normally, the back muscles are feeling better and you can begin to work slowly back into your routine.

5) Tennis Elbow
Tennis Elbow is another common injury in athletics. This can happen in really any sport, but is most common in tennis and golf. The injury is really an inflammation of the muscles of the forearm and the tendon that connect the muscles to the bone in your elbow. These muscles and tendons are what allow us to put our hand palm-side up. This is treated in physical therapy by icing, and slowly stretching and slightly straining the muscles to make them work a little. If a massage technique is used then you would rub your fingers into the deep tissue in you elbow, and into the muscle above (into the bicep) and below (into the forearm).