Common Injuries

How to deal with common sports and overuse injuries.

To avoid most sports and overuse injuries, stretch before doing heavy work.

Table of Contents

1. Muscle soreness
2. Tendonitis (soreness in tendons, the connective tissue in joints)
3. Plantar Fasciitis (sudden sharp pain in the bottom of your foot)
4. Shin Splints
5. Fallen Arches/Flat Feet (Lack of arch in foot after age 10, causes foot and ankle aches/pain after walking)

Muscle soreness

• (Recent pain and/or sharp pain) Use cold packs to relieve pain and inflammation
• (Older pain and/or general discomfort) Use heat to relax the muscles and increase blood flow
• Take painkillers
• See a doctor if is severe pain, discoloration, swelling, pain for more than a week, other symptoms, chest pain/pressure, shortness of breath, and/or irregular heartbeat

Tendonitis (soreness in tendons, the connective tissue in joints)

• Use topical painkillers
• Apply ice packs to affected regions for 20 minutes a day
• After you have healed, lightly massage the area

Plantar Fasciitis (sudden sharp pain in the bottom of your foot)

• Stretch before doing a workout/physical work
• When resting, slowly and carefully stretch your tendons. You should not feel pain, only slight discomfort
• Wear therapeutic sole inserts in your shoes, and wear good shoes for physical activities
• Try to rest, or at least do the least amount of work possible
• Take painkillers

Shin Splints

• Stretch and warmup before doing a workout/physical work
• When resting, slowly and carefully stretch your tendons. You should not feel pain, only slight discomfort
• Wear therapeutic sole inserts in your shoes, and wear good shoes for physical activities
• Try to rest, or at least do the least amount of work possible
• Take painkillers
• Apply ice packs to your shins

Fallen Arches/Flat Feet (Lack of arch in foot after age 10, causes foot and ankle aches/pain after walking)

Flat Feet/Fallen Arches (Credit to Harvard Health Publishing)

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