Preventing and Treating Common Soccer Injuries
Soccer is one of the most popular sports in the world, and for good reason: it is simple to learn, inexpensive to set up and relatively accessible, and has the added camaraderie of a team sport. Importantly, it is also an excellent activity for maintaining fitness, as it builds endurance and speed. However, although soccer is relatively safe, it is a high-impact sport with frequent start-and-stop motions that often lead to injury. Before stepping foot on the field, it is vital to both recognize and actively prevent the most common injuries for soccer players.
Most Common injuries
The most common lower extremity injuries are sprains and strains, which may vary in severity. These may include ankle sprains, knee ligament sprains (particularly of the anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL), or cartilage tears. Overuse injuries are also extremely common, such as shin splints, which may manifest as pain and swelling along the shin, patellar tendinitis (pain in the knee) and Achilles tendinitis (pain around the back of the ankle).
Outside of the lower extremities, soccer players often sustain injuries to the wrists (sprains and fractures) and shoulders from falling on an outstretched arm or from collisions with other players. Head trauma may also occur and result in concussions, which present as any alteration in a player’s mental state and must always be evaluated by a physician.
Preventing Common Soccer injuries
There are many ways to prevent these injuries, including warming up thoroughly before playing, making time for cooldowns after games, wearing proper equipment (well-fitting cleats and shin guards), fuelling your body with hydration and proper nutrition. Maintaining physical fitness is also important, as injury rates are higher among athletes who have not adequately prepared. Overuse injuries may be avoided by paying close attention to developing pain or discomfort, and lessening training time or intensity to reduce the risk of injury or burnout.
We also recommend you speak to a sports medicine professional or one of our stretch therapists about soccer injuries and prevention strategies, as our stretchers have a lot of experience helping athletes of all levels.
Treating injuries
Minor injuries such as ankle sprains can be treated with a period of rest, elevation, and icing the area. You should return to play after being injured only after being cleared by a healthcare professional. Overuse injuries may be treated with a short period of rest as well. Our team at Flxme is also well versed in treating sports injuries such as these—osteopathy and physiotherapy are both excellent at treating repetitive strain and overuse injuries, as well as various forms of tendinitis. If you’re a soccer player looking for effective rehabilitative treatment via stretch therapy, give us a visit!
Sources
https://www.upmc.com/services/sports-medicine/for-athletes/soccer
https://www.stopsportsinjuries.org/STOP/STOP/Prevent_Injuries/Soccer_Injury_Prevention.aspx