Prevention and treatment of common sports injuries

Most common sports injuries - including muscle strains, joint sprains, tenosynovitis, patellar joint pain, tennis elbow and other common problems that everyone encounters, more than 80% can be avoided in advance by relying on the three core actions of "dynamic activation before exercise, load adaptation during exercise, and active recovery after exercise"； Even if injury does occur, as long as the right intervention plan is chosen during the 72-hour golden treatment period, more than 90% of the injuries will not leave chronic sequelae.

Last week, I received a veteran who has been running marathons for three and a half years. Before every run, he would squat on the side of the road and press his thighs for two minutes before starting to run. Last month, in order to prepare for the race, he suddenly increased his monthly running mileage from 100 kilometers to 180. Patellar tendonitis broke out immediately, and it hurt even when squatting on the toilet and bending. It's unfair to say that he thought he had already warmed up. In fact, the static stretching he did was used to relax the muscles after exercise. Doing it before exercise will reduce the explosive power of the muscles. It is like slamming the accelerator when driving in the winter without warming up the car. Over time, it will definitely damage the engine. If you really want to warm up, you have to do dynamic movements such as high leg raises, lateral cross steps, and joint circles. This can increase the temperature of the muscles and fully secrete synovial fluid in the joints, so that they can withstand the subsequent exercise load.

When it comes to the treatment of acute injuries, the RICE and POLICE principles have been arguing in the circle for almost ten years. In fact, there is no need to stand on either side. Ten years ago, everyone believed that acute sprains should strictly follow RICE: rest, ice, compression, and elevation. In the past two years, the new POLICE principles have replaced "complete rest" with "moderate weight bearing." Many people say that the old method is wrong. In fact, both are correct, but the applicable stages are different. When your foot is swollen like a steamed bun after twisting and it hurts when you step on the ground, you must press RICE. Don’t move it randomly to aggravate internal bleeding. ； After 48 hours, half of the swelling has subsided. If you are still lying in bed motionless, it will cause muscle atrophy. At this time, slowly use crutches to partially bear weight and do some ankle pump exercises, and the recovery speed will be faster. Ten years ago, I sprained my foot while playing badminton while saving the ball in front of the net. At that time, I was young and energetic and thought it was just a twist. I went on the court the next day and played again. Later, after the pain for more than half a year, I went to get an MRI and found out that it was an avulsion fracture that had not been treated. Nowadays, I still get soreness occasionally on cloudy and rainy days, just because I stepped on the pit of "hard carrying".

There is also a lot of debate about protective gear. One group says that you must wear knee pads, wrist pads, and ankle pads when exercising, which can protect the joints.； Another school of thought says that wearing protective gear for a long time will cause the degeneration of your own stabilizing muscles, making you more susceptible to injury. I have been practicing squatting for three years. I only wear knee pads when I push 1.5 times the maximum weight of my body weight. I usually train with bare knees. I have not had any problems with my knees so far. To be honest, there is no conflict between the two statements: it is okay for novices to wear protective gear when they are just starting to learn movements or when they are just recovering from injury. They can help you avoid the risks of movement deformation. ； If your movements are already very standard and your daily training load is within your capabilities, there is really no need to rely on protective gear as a "crutching stick".

If you really get injured by accident, don’t frighten yourself by blindly searching Baidu. Mild muscle strain, joint pain, only a little soreness when moving, which does not affect normal walking and raising hands, roll it with a foam roller at home, apply some diclofenac diethylamine cream, and rest for three to five days and it will basically be cured ； If there is obvious tingling, pain when exerting force, or even dents in the muscles and tendons, don't hesitate to go to the hospital to get an MRI. Don't listen to what others say, "Just take care of yourself." If the tendon tear really lasts for a long time, you may need surgery to solve it. If it develops into a chronic inflammation such as tennis elbow or chronic patellar tendonitis, don’t panic. Don’t stop exercising completely. Change explosive movements such as running and jumping to low-weight-bearing activities such as swimming and cycling. Do targeted strength training two or three times a week, such as eccentric contraction of the forearm for tennis elbow and static squats for patellar tendonitis. Most of them can be relieved in a month or two. Before, I developed tenosynovitis while practicing deadlift lock grip. Some information I looked up said that I needed to take a complete rest for three months, and some said that I needed to move more. I tried doing light-weight forearm curls twice a week. I usually wore a wrist brace and didn't carry heavy objects. The pain was basically gone in about three weeks. To be honest, other people's experiences are just a reference. Your own physical feeling is the most accurate.

Many people always believe in "No pain no gain". When exercising, they grit their teeth and bear the pain but still have to complete the plan. It is really unnecessary. Acidity is normal. Pain is your body's warning. Stop when you need to, and rest when you need to. If you are really unsure, go to the sports medicine department of a regular hospital or find a certified rehabilitation practitioner. It is much more reliable than searching online and judging yourself as "disabled" based on symptoms.