Why is it Risky to Play Sports with an Injury!

Sports is a wonderful way of being healthy and fit. However, it is a bit risky. Each and every sport has a risk of injury. Sprains, strains, tennis elbow, runner’s knee, fracture are some of the common injuries related to sports. But the risk gets greater when one decides to play sports while being injured.

Warming up before exercise definitely reduces the chances of injuries and accidents but it can’t avoid mishaps that happen during the play. Sudden jerks, collisions, unexpected turns and forces often lead to damage. These actions are pretty common in sports and when they get clubbed with fatigue of game, exhaustion level rises, there is wrong use of technique, there is loss of stability and one ends up being injured.
Common threats 1. Inflammation Inflammation is a natural healing process that our body conducts when it senses infection or injury. So if you have encountered any injury while playing sports, your body would immediately start the process of inflammation. But then if you don’t decide to rest and continue playing, the process of inflammation gets elongated. Your soft tissues lying near the cartilage experience trauma which triggers the release of inflammatory chemicals from the dead and damaged cells. If the body is not getting enough rest, then the damaged body part would experience pain, swelling, redness, heat and it may not be able to function.
2. Stress fracture Fracture as we all know is a condition when a bone is broken, however, there is another condition called stress fracture that is usually experienced by sports persons. When the muscles, joints or bones are no longer able to absorb the shock, they experience stress of activities. So basically, if a person continues to play sports despite having a minor injury, the injured muscles, bones or joints would start experiencing stress and there would be a point of time when they won’t be able to take the stress and end up being fractured. Overused injured bone hence breaks down. So it advisable to get immediate rest or first aid in case of any injury.
3. Torn ligaments Ligaments connect our bones to one another through a series of fibrous tissues that decide the intensity and flexibility of our bones and muscles. So while playing sports, if you stretch your muscles beyond their limit, land in a wrong position, make swift changes in body positions or twist awkwardly you might torn your ligaments. Common ligament injuries occur at the ankle and knees. The intensity of the pull can worsen if a person doesn’t rest after the injury. Usually extreme cases of ligament injuries require surgeries to repair.
Preventive measures 1. Warming up before playing sports creates warmth in the body, reducing the chances of injuries.
2. Rest after an injury. Be it a minor one or a major one.
3. Adopt right treatment measures for effective results. Physical therapies like hot water/ cold water treatment andElectrotherapy are highly recommended for sport injuries.