Seven Ways to Heal Sports Injuries

Every Saturday, weekend warriors emerge from the 9-to-5 grind ready to hit the court, course or open trail. Want to greet Monday ache-, pain- and bandage-free? Here’s what you need to know. Plus, how serious is your back pain? Take our quiz and find out…
If your only source of weekday exercise is getting up to refill your coffee cup but you’re a jock come Saturday, you could do serious damage to your body. Weekend warriors risk injury because they’re not well conditioned.
Still, that’s no excuse for lounging on the couch all week. You simply need to know what you’re up against and the steps to take if you get hurt. Here are some common athletic injuries:
1. Ankle SprainIf you’ve twisted your ankle, welcome to the club. About 25,000 ankle sprains occur in the U.S. each day, reports the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. One misstep on an uneven surface – or a sudden change in direction on the tennis court – could have you nursing a swollen ankle for days.
What to do: Immediately implement P.R.I.C.E: protection, rest, ice, compression, elevation. (For more on P.R.I.C.E., click here). But don’t rest a mild ankle sprain for too long. Once swelling and pain decrease, gradually point and flex your foot to loosen up the joint. Then try turning it inward and outward. When you can fully bear weight on your ankle, get walking. Doing one-legged balance exercises will strengthen the joint and protect it from future injuries.
What NOT to do: Don’t try to walk it off; you may increase the damage. You may think a twisted ankle isn’t much to worry about, but you’re wrong.
“Women even as young as 40 may be prone to osteoporosis, so a twisted ankle could result in a fracture,” says Marilyn Moffat, Ph.D., professor of physical therapy at New York University and co-author of Age-Defying Fitness (Peachtree Publishers).
2. Achilles TendinitisYour Achilles tendon attaches your calf muscles to the heel of your foot. It’s a thick, strong band of connective tissue, and if it is stretched or torn – ouch! Tight calves from sports involving a lot of jumping or running are usually to blame.
What to do: For a mild sprain or repetitive use injury, follow P.R.I.C.E. If you’re a runner, ease back into the sport and skip the hill work, which will only aggravate it. Warm up properly and stretch regularly. Consider custom orthotics, which can help cushion and support the heel.
What NOT to do: Don’t ignore it. A small ache can quickly become a big problem if you don’t take care of it, especially for a muscle that’s necessary for the one thing you do every day: walk.
3. Shin SplintsMany a runner has suffered the dreaded shin splints, also known as periostitis, typically caused by overuse. It’s characterized by pain down the front of the tibia, or shinbone.
What to do: Rest is the only cure, and you’ll have to take time off from running. To soothe pain and reduce inflammation, try an ice cup: Fill a small paper cup with water and freeze it. Once frozen, peel back a couple inches of paper from the rim. Holding on to the base, rub the ice up and down your shin for 20 minutes. As it melts, the ice will conform to your shin and provide spot-on relief.
What NOT to do: Don’t try to work through it. Stay off your legs until the pain is gone. To prevent further injury, don’t go out too hard, too fast. When you’re ready to run again, choose a soft running surface, like a track or grass − no bone-jarring concrete or pavement. Remember: Walk, jog, then run.
4. Knee PainUnless you rupture your anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, which is characterized by the dreaded “pop” and buckling of the leg, knee injuries are hard to diagnose. That’s because many tendons and ligaments cross or attach on or around the knee joint. Here are three major causes of knee pain:
ACL sprain: Many famous athletes (think football’s Tom Brady) suffer this. It’s common in women athletes too. The ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) is a main supportive connective tissue in the knee. Athletes who pivot suddenly cause the knee joint to twist and yank on the ligament.
What to do: If you injure this sucker, you’ll know it from the unnerving pop and intense pain. See a doctor right away.
What NOT to do: An ACL injury is always serious. Don’t ignore it.
5. Runner’s Knee Patellofemoral pain syndrome or runner’s knee is often caused by repetitive stress to the knee joint, muscle weakness or tightness or dropped arches (flat feet). It affects more than runners. Any sport that uses repetitive knee motion (volleyball, basketball, football, cycling, even swimming) can cause it.
What to do: Rest or decrease the intensity of your runs. Wear shoes with proper arch support and consider getting professionally fitted at your local running store.
What NOT to do: You’ll aggravate it by sitting with knees bent for long periods, running downhill or walking down stairs.
6. IT Band Syndrome (ITBS)A too-tight iliotibial band (IT) is a common cause of knee pain in runners, basketball players and other athletes who jump a lot. The band of connective tissue and muscle runs along the outer upper thigh, down to the knee. When it’s too tight, it pulls painfully on its insertion point near the knee. Sometimes you’ll even feel pain at the band’s attachment point on the upper thigh. Running, cycling and sports that require repetitive squatting (volleyball, football, etc.) aggravate ITBS, as does sitting with bent knees. Since ITBS is a repetitive use injury, only rest will give it the time it needs to heal.
What to do: Using a foam roller or other device, such as The Stick, can help elongate the band and speed recovery. The American Academy of Family Physicians also recommends stretching exercises and massages of the affected area.
What NOT to do: Avoid repetitive knee movements.
7. Back PainYou don’t have to be an athlete, gym-goer or weekend warrior to suffer from back pain. In fact, if you rarely exercise, you probably suffer from lower back pain. That’s because a weak core contributes to a weak back. Poor posture and lifting techniques make a bad back worse.
What to do: Do core-strengthening exercises. Stretch your leg muscles, particularly your hamstrings, regularly − especially after exercise. Use proper lifting techniques and, like your mother always said, stand up straight!
What NOT to do: Never lift with your back – use your legs. Warm up properly before doing any sport that involves your back (which is pretty much everything), especially those that require twisting at the lower spine (golf, baseball, tennis).
You hurt all over…Whether you just began a new exercise program or you went out too hard and fast, you’re doing more than your body can handle. Slow down! You may have goals for your body, but your body has limits. Take one step at a time. Push it only with proper training.
If you’re a well-conditioned athlete and you’re suddenly experiencing aches, pains and fatigue, you’re probably overtraining. Cut back for a while, consider taking some rest days and fuel up with proper nutrition.
Follow these five tips:
1. Get in shape for the sport; don’t use it to get in shape.“Athletes condition themselves specifically for the sport,” Moffat says. By contrast, weekend warriors use the sport for conditioning, “which can lead to injuries, aches and pains,” she says.
2. Follow the 10% rule. Don’t ask more of your body than it can handle. When it comes to your workout, never increase intensity, duration or frequency by more than 10% than usual. For example, if you normally work out for one hour a day, five days a week (five hours total), and you want to do more, you should add only 30 extra minutes of exercise that week.
3. Do a proper warm-up. “Nobody would literally walk out the door and start sprinting,” Moffat says. “You walk, then jog, then run.”
Five to 10 minutes is usually plenty for a warm-up, depending on the activity. If you’re just doing light weight lifting, you can go slowly and ease into it, she says. But if you’re doing heavier resistance training, you need a longer warm-up.
4. Increase range of motion. To stretch or not to stretch? To keep normal range of motion and elongate the muscle, stretching is key, particularly after your workout. “All of the literature is pointing to stretching after activity,” Moffat says. But if you’re really tight, she advises stretching before the activity… but after warming up. Stretches should be held for no less than 30 seconds each.
5. Don’t forget to cool down. Tapering off the end of your workout is important for preventing serious injury.
“It prevents pooling of blood in the lower extremities,” Moffat says, which can otherwise cause your blood pressure to drop and may even affect normal heart rhythm. Cooling down post-workout also helps your body remove waste products like lactic acid, which means you’ll start your next workout feeling great, not sore.
Want to learn more? Get your own copies of The American Physical Therapy Association's Book of Body Maintenance and Repair and Age-Defying Fitness.
How Bad Is Your Back Pain?So your back hurts? Do you see a doctor or wait it out? Take our back pain quiz to see how severe it really is.