Sports injury
They can occur intraoral or extraoral, and vary from a superficial skin nick to a lip laceration, or involve significant vascular disruption or injury to collateral vital structures.
[19] Researchers have reported that 3-25% of cervical spine injuries actually occur after the initial traumatic event and are caused or exacerbated by improper handling during early stages of management or patient transport.
Baseball players are prone to being affected with subacromial impingement syndrome, as the sport requires an overhead movement of the arms to make a throw.
Muscular strength imbalances, poor scapula, and rotator cuff tears are the main causes of subacromial impingement syndrome.
[23] Falling on an outstretched arm and pulling on the shoulder, repetitive lifting of heavy loads, or overhead movement cause rotator cuff tears.
Immediately after injury, the subject will fall to the ground, acute swelling sets in, the knee is destabilized, and bearing weight becomes a difficulty.
[24] Other intrinsic factors are age, weight, body composition, height,[5] lack of flexibility or range of motion, coordination, balance, and endurance.
The goal of early diagnosis is to ensure that the injury is receiving proper care and recovering correctly, thereby limiting the concern for other medical problems stemming from the initial traumatic event.
Some sports leagues have gone further in terms of secondary prevention by incorporating live sensing data to allow early diagnosis and treatment: Some teams in the Swiss National Ice Hockey League are testing out systems that combine helmet-integrated sensors and analysis software to reveal a player’s ongoing brain injury risk during a game.
[30] Lastly, tertiary prevention is solely focused on rehabilitation to reduce and correct an existing disability resulting from the traumatic event.
It is most essential to establish participation in warm-ups, stretching, and exercises that focus on main muscle groups commonly used in the sport of interest.
A season analysis is an attempt to identify risks before they occur by reviewing training methods, the competition schedule, traveling, and past injuries.
[27] It is important for team program directors and staff to implicate testing to ensure healthy, competitive, and confident athletes for their upcoming season.
A study found that the highest injury rate during practices across fifteen Division I, II, and III NCAA sports was in the preseason compared to in-season or postseason.
Obtaining sufficient amounts of calories, carbohydrates, fluids, protein, and vitamins and minerals is important for the overall health of the athlete and limits the risk of possible injuries.
The tests place the individual athlete in extreme positions where weaknesses and imbalances become clear if proper stability and mobility are not functioning correctly.
Once the scoring is complete the athlete and medical professional can review the documentation together and organize a set prevention program to help target and strengthen the areas of weakness to limit the risks of possible injuries.
[41] Collisions with the ground, objects, and other players are common, and unexpected dynamic forces on limbs and joints can cause sports injuries.
[46] The NCAA injury rates are roughly the same for soccer, swimming and diving, tennis, and both indoor and outdoor track and field, regardless of gender.
Hence, taking these influences into account may assist sports medicine practitioners when planning for the psychological management needs of injured elite athletes.
Developing confidence in returning to sport includes "having trust in the rehabilitation provider, satisfaction of social support needs, and achievement of physical standards/clinical outcomes.
"[58] Social support can operate as a buffer for the amount of anxiety and stress associated with an injury by positively affecting the athlete's psychological and emotional wellbeing.
[59] In addition, research suggests that emotional social support, which prioritizes "empathy, love, trust, and caring" can benefit injured athletes psychologically as they recover.
[59] With greater emphasis on the psyche, athletes will be more motivated to envision their injury recovery as a new competition or task, rather than a roadblock that hinders them from achieving their dreams.
Although many universities provide psychological services to their students, these employees may not be trained in handling athlete-specific factors, and thus may not be able to address the particular needs of injured athletes.
When discussing Kara Goucher's openness to sharing her difficulty with negative self-talk and confidence, the author acknowledged that this example is rare in the world of athletics because such struggles are usually considered a weakness.
Therefore, de-stigmatizing and engaging in conversations about mental health can encourage athletes to enlist help for their internal struggles throughout their sports career and during an injury.
Not only has mindfulness been shown to positively impact general well-being and improve performance, but it could also be utilized as a "protective factor to stress and stress-related psychological issues.
"[54] The stigma associated with mental health as a weakness is a common barrier impeding help-seeking behaviors for athletes whose primary goal is to achieve perfection and success in their sport.
Therefore, rehabilitation programs must account for mental health as a strong component of the recovery process for athletes, so that they are better prepared to manage not only the physical burden but also the psychological effects of their injury.
