Whether you’re a professional athlete or a “weekend warrior”, all of us are prone to injury when we play sports and push our limits. This is especially so if our technique was not right, if we were not properly conditioned, if we overdid a particular action, or if we were simply unlucky and sustained an accident resulting in a traumatic injury.
Common in sports that involve a lot of jumping (and landing) or stepping on another person’s foot and causing them to trip and twist their ankle. The result is the ligaments (strong elastic bands that stabilises the ankle) over-stretching or tearing, causing pain and swelling.
The ACL stands for the anterior cruciate ligament and is one of the major stabilisation ligaments of the knee. Injury of the ACL often occurs when a person suddenly slows down and tries to change directions. The result is swelling and instability while walking.
This usually occurs when one falls onto their knees or runs and jumps a lot; causing swelling of the joint, pain at the front of the knee, and an imbalance of the muscles (thus the kneecap is not properly aligned).
A “pulled” muscle is basically a stretch or tear of a muscle. There are two main muscles that usually get injured during a groin strain – the large muscle running down the inner side of the thigh, or the thinner muscle that runs from outside the hip, crosses the thigh and attaches to the inner side of the knee.
The hamstring refers to the muscles located at the back of our thighs, and are actively used in more intense activities such as running, jumping and climbing. Hamstring injuries usually occur during sudden large actions such as sprinting or lunging – and the muscle is stretched beyond its limit.
A common exercise-related problem, this refers to injury sustained along the shin bone, the bone running down the front of your lower leg. Caused by repetitive stress to the shin bone and the connective tissues that attach muscle to bone, it results in swelling and soreness. Left untreated, it may lead to a stress fracture.
Though the two are distinct conditions, they share many similarities such as being overuse injuries caused by repetitive motions involving the arm and wrist. They are also characterised by damage to the tendons (that typically serve a stabilising function) that attach the forearm muscles to the bone at the elbow. In the former, pain is experienced while gripping and lifting; and in the latter, pain is experienced while twisting the forearm or squeezing.
With the shoulder being the most mobile and flexible joint in the body, it is also extra prone to injury. Taxing your shoulder excessively with repeated overhead movements or contact sport may result in dislocation, cartilage tear or a rotator cuff injury; all of which resulting in varying degrees of pain, weakness and immobility.
Pain, numbness or a tingling sensation that travel from the back down to the leg, sciatica is often found in athletes who remain in a flexed, leaning forward position (e.g. cyclists) or athletes who twist their body a lot (e.g. golfers). This is caused by a pinched nerve or a bulging disc.
The hip flexors are muscles found on the upper-front side of the thigh. Sport injuries sustained to these muscles are typically caused by sprinting, running on an upward slope and activities that require one to change directions quickly or stop suddenly.
Cove Orthopaedic Clinic is led by Dr Sean Ng, a skilled orthopaedic surgeon with over 10 years in the field, including in-depth expertise in Sports Medicine. He was formerly a Consultant at the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Singapore General Hospital (SGH) and board member of the Medical Board of SGH. Dr Ng also received subspecialty orthopaedic training in the treatment of bunions under the MOH HMDP award in Switzerland.
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