In this post, Dr. J. Michael Bennett offers six Sports Medicine tips to avoid injury while exercising. Dr. Bennett is a Board Certified Orthopedic Surgeon and a Fellowship Trained Sports Medicine Specialist serving patients from Metro Houston from his clinics in Sugar Land and Houston TX, near the Galleria. Dr. Bennett specializes in treating issues of the knees, shoulders, and elbows. Dr. J. Michael Bennett also treats certain wrist and hand injuries including carpal tunnel syndrome, distal radius fractures (broken wrist), trigger finger and metacarpal fractures of the hand.Elbow Pain
A healthy lifestyle is an active lifestyle. But an active lifestyle – especially when trying to maximize the benefits of fitness — unfortunately can lead to unanticipated injury.
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Dr. J. Michael Bennett offers the following six sports medicine tips to avoid injury while exercising for young athletes and active adults to stay off the sidelines and fully engaged in the game of life.
1) KNOW YOUR LIMITS – In sports and recreation – knowing your limits is just as important as maximizing your potential. The key is being able to listen to your body. There’s nothing unusual about cracks and stiffness as we get older, but it’s unusual when these benign symptoms become painful or interfere with our daily activities. A knee or shoulder that painfully pops, locks or becomes unstable should be evaluated by a sports medicine specialist. Moreover, it’s important to understand that everyone is different. A 45-year-old male may have different symptoms than the 12-year-old little leaguer.
2) STRETCH – The majority of sports-related injuries — 80-90% — can be avoided, minimized or improved by incorporating a habitual stretching program. Stiff tendons and muscles are prone to injury because they can’t adapt as quickly to the given stress across the joint. Current research favors the use of a gradual warm-up routine that utilizes sports-specific movement patterns. But let’s not forget about flexibility – or more accurately Range of Motion (ROM). It’s not about who can or can’t touch their toes; it’s about having enough ROM to perform a given activity.
3) HYDRATE – The human body is made up of approximately 70% water. When we’re dehydrated – things slow down. Fluid and electrolyte loss can lead to decreased cardiovascular function, reduced blood flow to essential organs, muscular cramping and early fatigue. Athletic performance can be affected with as little as 2% loss of body weight due to water loss. It’s essential to hydrate accordingly with your fluid loss.
4) REST – Muscles need time to regenerate, heal and recuperate. Muscle pulls and strains are traumatic injuries consisting of bleeding and microtears in the muscular tissue. Returning to activity before adequate healing takes place can lead to more tears, bleeding or excessive scar-tissue formation. After an injury or strain — RICE should be initiated: Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation — followed by a formal therapy program to rehabilitate the injured muscles.
5) WEAR THE RIGHT SHOES – High arches and flat feet are notorious for being the underlying culprit behind many sports injuries. Stress across the body is determined by body alignment and balance, which starts with your feet and moves upward. If you have any kind of misalignment, this will create an imbalance of stresses across the body – which can lead to multiple problems such as ankle sprains, tendonitis and arthritis, among others. The remedy is using appropriate shoes and orthotics if necessary.
6) CROSS TRAIN – Studies have shown that injury is more common in year-long sports and repetitive activity. The reason is repetitive stress across the joints without enough time to heal in between sessions. Cross training prevents overwhelming a certain body part by changing the routine, and giving the body time to rejuvenate and rest while conditioning another body part.
Please share this article with your friends by using the social media buttons below. If you have any questions about the tips to avoid injury while exercising presented here or you need an appointment with a Sports Medicine Doctor, please call our Sugar Land office at 281-633-8600 or our Houston office at 713-234-3152.
