Playing Sports This Spring? Watch Out for These Common Injuries

Sports are a great way to stay in shape, build life skills like teamwork and communication, and overall just have fun. However, like with any type of physical activity, spring sports pose the risk of injury. Because of this, young athletes, their parents, and coaches should all be aware of some common spring sports injuries and how to avoid needing urgent healthcare when possible. This article is going to discuss a few of these injuries and how they can be prevented.

Common Injuries
Many times, athletes think that if they don't play a contact sport, like football, they won't get hurt. Unfortunately, this is not the case. There are plenty of both major and minor injuries seen in athletes who play non-contact sports too. Rotator cuff injuries and joint inflammation are commonly seen in athletes who play sports like tennis, baseball, and golf. Because of the repetitive motion of swinging, these athletes may experience pain in their shoulders and elbows. When it comes to sports like soccer and track that involve a lot of running, ankle sprains, shin splints, and Achilles tendinitis are all common injuries. And any athlete who focuses solely on one sport is prone to overuse injuries. When one part of the body is primarily used and not given enough time to rest between uses, this can result in a painful overuse injury. Overall, young athletes should be mindful of how they're treating their bodies during spring sports season or they may find themselves in need of urgent healthcare.

How Can Athletes Prevent Sports Injuries?
Fortunately, most children's injuries from sports are preventable. First off, it's important for young athletes to always warm up before participating in any sort of physical activity. Warming up muscles is key to them working properly and avoiding injury. Additionally, athletes should ease back into their practice and playing time. This is especially important for those who didn't participate in sports during the winter season because their muscles will be out of practice. And lastly, it's important for athletes to feel comfortable to openly communicate about any pain they are experiencing. While this may not prevent injury, catching an injury in the beginning is crucial to getting it taken care of quickly so the athlete can go back to playing as soon as possible.

And if an injury does occur, it's important to seek medical care as soon as possible. Urgent care centers are great for sports injuries, especially for quick fixes like sprains and stitches. And with about three million patients visiting urgent care centers each week, according to the Urgent Care Association of America, these centers are more than able to help with any kind of sports injury.

While accidents do happen and injuries do occur, it's important for young athletes to be aware of possible injuries. This will help them not only do what they can to prevent getting injured, but will allow them to know when to seek urgent healthcare.