3.2.1.3 Injury prevention and the rehabilitation of injury GapFill

Injuries can have a detrimental impact in sport. In individual sports, an injury setback cannot be overcome as it can with replacements in team sports, but even then, an injury to a single player could be the difference between winning and losing, defining the outcome of an entire season. 

Injuries fall into two categories:

• Fracture – Defined as a break in a bone. A  complexcompoundsimplegreenstick fracture results in a clean break in the bone which does not break the skin, whereas a  complexcompoundsimplegreenstick fracture breaks the skin. Fractures are most commonly caused by impacts such as a high tackle in football.
•  DisplacementStrainFractureDislocation – The displacement of articulating bones at a joint. Often occurs during awkward landings, especially at the shoulder joint, where the instinct of using the arms to ease the body to the ground dislodges the humerus from the ball-and-socket joint.
•  DisplacementSprainSnapStrain – Occurs as a result of sudden, forceful movements that overstretch or rupture ligaments that attach bone to bone, such as uncontrolled eversion of the ankle when jogging under fatigue.
•  SprainSnapStrainDisplacement – This can also occur during movements that are forceful or overstretched, but occurs to the muscle and tendons that lever the joint, such as rapid extension of the knee and subsequent injury to the hamstrings when sprinting.

•  ComplexStressGrossSimple fracture – A small crack in the bone from overuse, most commonly occurring in weight-bearing bones that are under a greater amount of pressure. This type of fracture often occurs in the tibia and metacarpals from high volumes of running, where repetitive impacts between the foot and ground occur.
•  TendonitisCartilage tearConcussionStrain – Pain and inflammation in the tendon as a result of overuse. Common examples of this are  javelinshot-putter'scricketer'stennis and golfer's elbow, as a result of repetitive swinging actions. It can also occur to the  tibiofibular ligamentAchillescalcaneuspatella in the heel due to a spike in running volume.