Sports Injuries

Wounds heal: There are simple remedies for sports injuries that heal quickly.

General information

According to Prof. Dr. Böhmer (1992) about 4% of all athletes have an accident every year. Regardless of this, it is clear that the risk of getting injured during a competition is higher than that of getting injured during training. A distinction is made between the general causes for the occurrence of an injury with regard to endogenous and exogenous injuries.

Endogenous injuries are those injuries that are related to the athlete himself. These include, among other things, an insufficient level of training, mental and physical fatigue, nutritional and electrolyte deficiencies, or unhealed injuries, etc. Exogenous injuries, on the other hand, are injuries that can be traced back to external influences, unfavorable conditions or defective sports equipment.

The most common sports injuries

Unfortunately, where people do sports, injuries often occur during sports. In the following, the most common types of injury are discussed.

  • Tennis elbow
  • Golf elbow
  • Bubbles
  • Cruciate ligament rupture
  • Torn meniscus
  • Tape elongation
  • External ankle fracture
  • Torn Achilles tendon
  • Sore muscles
  • Injury during bodybuilding

Different types of injuries

Bruises are one of the most common sports injuries worldwide. Depending on the type of sport, bruises can sometimes occur all over the body. Due to the popularity of soccer, bruises are often found on the shin, ankle and thigh.

Due to the blunt force, the muscles are pressed against the bone and damage blood and lymph vessels. Blood and lymph fluid leak out and collect in the surrounding tissue. At the affected area, swelling and bruising develop, which in most cases does not need to be treated.

This phenomenon is popularly known as the horse kiss. You can find more information on this topic at: Bruises and strains are unpleasant and usually put the athlete out of action immediately. The muscle group that is most often affected by strains is the thigh.

But strains can also occur in the abdominal muscles, calf and arms during sports. When pulled, the muscle or individual muscle cells are stretched and overstretched beyond a healthy level. This causes small micro-fissures in the fibers of the muscles.

Strains occur especially when athletes have not warmed up sufficiently or are in a poor training condition and put too much strain on their muscles. Due to the overloading of the muscles, these micro-fissures can also occur and the athlete has contracted a strain. Cramp-like pain occurs immediately when a strain is felt and always comes back when the affected muscle fibers are reactivated.

As first aid, the PECH rule can be followed – rest, ice cooling, compression and elevation. This injury, which mostly affects the calf and thigh muscles, is caused by overstretching the muscle fibers until individual fibers finally tear. Triggering situations for a rupture of muscle fibers are very often fast rotations or accelerations.

The athlete directly feels a short stabbing pain that recurs each time the affected muscle fibers are activated. A very typical sports injury is, for example, a torn muscle fiber of the adductors in footballers. In addition to sparing and painkillers, the taping of torn muscle fibers can also help to relieve the affected muscle.

However, complete healing usually takes about 4-6 weeks. Torn ligaments affect the ligaments and not the muscles. In this sports injury, at least one ligament in a joint tears.

Ligament injuries are actually always heard by a cracking and snapping sound. This is the acoustic part of the torn ligament. Bleeding that occurs causes swelling in the affected area.

The affected joint hurts and feels unstable. The most common ligament injuries in sports involve the knees and ankles. Theoretically, ligament injuries can occur on any part of the body.

A serious ligament injury is a torn cruciate ligament, because with this injury there is a high probability of having to end one’s sporting career. A distinction is made between anterior cruciate ligament rupture and posterior cruciate ligament rupture. Some ligament injuries can be treated conservatively, without surgery, while other ligament injuries require surgery.

In these cases, a complete healing of the injury can take up to six months, in case of a torn cruciate ligament up to twelve months.You can find more on this topic at: Torn ligament sprains affect the joints and are caused by violent overstretching, e.g. through sudden twisting. Depending on the extent of overstretching, the ligaments or the joint capsule can be affected. Typical accompanying symptoms are pain, swelling, restricted mobility and in some cases bruising.

You can find more on this topic at

  • Sprain
  • Sprain of a toe

The capsule is a sheath that surrounds the joint and contains synovial fluid so that movement in the joint can take place smoothly. If a joint bends over and ligaments are injured, the joint capsule is usually also affected. In severe cases, the joint capsule ruptures and fluid leaks into the surrounding tissue, resulting in swelling.

The shoulder and knee are most frequently affected by capsule injuries. It is recommended that the PECH rules are also applied in these areas. Tendons serve to attach muscles to bone.

Overuse can lead to irritation of these tendons, which can result in tendon inflammation if they are not protected early and regeneration phases are too short. For example, an inflammation of the tendon of the thigh can occur during marathon training. This causes stabbing and burning pain on the outside of the thigh.

In case of tendon inflammation, adequate protection should be taken urgently. Cold compresses and anti-inflammatory medication can provide further relief. You can read more information on this topic here: Tendon inflammationScrapes and small lacerations are caused by blunt force applied to a point.

Abrasions mostly occur on the legs and arms and are characterized by a burning pain. Lacerations can affect the knees, elbows and especially the head. They are very painful and are accompanied by a bleeding wound.

Broken bones are usually caused by violent impact on the bone. Statistically speaking, the forearm fracture is the most common, which is classically caused by catching a fall with the hands. Besides bone fractures caused by falls and movements, there is also the group of fatigue fractures.

This sports injury occurs mainly on the shin and metatarsal bones and is caused by overstrain, especially in long-distance runners and soccer players. The concussion is a sports injury that can occur in any kind of sport and, depending on its severity, can also take on life-threatening proportions in the form of a craniocerebral trauma. Through falls and collisions, the impact of the head on a hard and solid surface shakes the brain in the skull. This can even cause irreversible destruction of nerve cells. Symptoms of the concussion are pale skin color, vomiting, nausea and balance problems.