The sports season is now back in full swing. Sometimes people get too fanatical and then the risk of leg injuries is high. Very annoying when you just want to practice your favourite sport again. It is therefore important that these leg injuries heal soon. How do these injuries occur and how can physiotherapy help? You can find out in this blog.
How do leg injuries occur?
Leg injuries can occur in various ways. For example, through poor preparation and warm-up, insufficient fitness or incorrect footwear. But they can also be caused by overexertion or poor foot position or movement coordination. Our knees and feet take a particularly heavy toll because of the constant weight placed on them.
What are the most common leg injuries?
In our physiotherapy practice, we see many different complaints related to sports. To give you an idea, we list here the most common leg injuries and complaints in athletes.
Hamstring injury
One of the most common injuries is a hamstring injury. The hamstring is the large muscle at the back of the thigh. A hamstring injury can easily occur while playing football, for example during explosive movements such as sprinting or shooting at the goal. At the latter moment, the muscle is at maximum tension and stretch. The injury is characterised by a sudden sharp pain at the back of the thigh and is caused by damage to the muscle tissue. It can vary in severity and you should have it properly examined before you start moving or playing sports again.
Jumpers knee
The name says it all - a Jumpers knee (jumping knee) usually occurs in athletes who jump a lot during sports. Think volleyball and basketball players. This complaint usually occurs as a result of overuse of the patellar tendon. This involves pain at the front of your knee.
Swollen ankle
While exercising, you can use your twist ankle, causing it to become thick and blue. This condition often occurs as a result of the foot unexpectedly folding inwards. This causes the ankle ligaments and various tendons to stretch, damaging them. This can occur during sports as well as while walking.
Shin splints
This is a collective term for several conditions involving pain at the front of the tibia (shin) is the symptom. This comes in the form of a nagging and stabbing pain in your shins. It is a common injury in runners. The downside to this injury is that once you suffer from it, it persists for a long time.
Heel spur
Do you feel a stabbing pain under your heel while walking, exercising or standing for long periods of time? If so, you could be suffering from heel spur. There is not always a specific cause for this. Sometimes there are multiple causes. A position deviation of the foot or stiff calf muscles can cause extra tractive forces on the surrounding structures of the heel. In general, women suffer from heel spur more often than men.
Achilles tendon complaints
The Achilles tendon connects the calf muscles to the heel bone. Fun fact: it is the largest tendon in your body. Once something goes wrong with the Achilles tendon, it can also cause persistent symptoms. These complaints, in turn, can lead to restrictions in daily life or while playing sports.
Physiotherapy for leg injuries
Unfortunately, the alarm is only sounded when athletes are already injured or in pain. This is a shame, of course, because we can detect weaknesses in the body that could lead to an injury. We can also draw up a prevention programme, giving you proper warm-ups, cool-downs and specific exercises.
Have you nevertheless suffered an injury or are you in pain while exercising? Then of course we can help with that through physio- and exercise therapy. We first start by finding out the cause of your complaint. That way, we can determine exactly which treatments are applicable to your situation and make sure you are back on your feet as soon as possible.
Do you suffer from certain leg injuries? Get in touch with us
As soon as you suffer from any of the above injuries or have other complaints due to sports, you can contact contact us. We will schedule an appointment with you and make sure you are helped as soon as possible. You can reach us by calling 085-5000333 or by sending an email to info@friskfysio.nl.
Keyword: leg injuries
Meta: Leg injuries are a common problem among athletes. With physiotherapy, we help you recover as quickly as possible.
Tags: injury, sports, leg, leg injury, hamstring, knee injury, Achilles tendon, heel spur, shin, sports, sports physiotherapy, physiotherapy in sports, physiotherapy for athletes
