Soccer Injuries and prevention

Soccer, one of the most popularteam sports in the world with over 200 million registered players worldwide, isa game of non stop action. Generally soccer is a safe and healthy form ofexercise and competition for children.  However, some precautions shouldbe taken to maximize safety.  Of the approximately 150,000 soccerrelated injuries that occur each year.  Participants under the age of 15results are 45% occur each year. Most injuries in soccer occur in the lowerbody, mostly to the knees and ankles. However, repeated or prolonged use(overuse) injuries are common problems, especially toward the end of a long andgruelling season. These injuries are the result of constant overloading andwearing down of a tendon (tissue connecting muscle to bone), muscle, bone orjoint, resulting in the inability of that structure to perform its normalbiomechanical duties.

Injuries are a commonoccurrence in the sport at every level of play. Although not considered acontact sport, there is considerable physical contact and combined with thehigh physical demands of the sport, soccer injuries are inevitable. Did yourealize that being first to the ballis the main cause of soccer injuries? And of course, this is something weencourage.

We're going to look at causes,prevention and to reflect reality... treatment and recovery!

Types of Injury

There are many injuries that canoccur in soccer, such as soft-tissue contusions, (bruises), knee injuries, andfoot injuries.  For these types of injuries there are things that can healit.  For heel or foot pains, inserts, placed in the soccer shoes mayhelp.  Other injuries are ankle injuries, fractures, and heading theball.  Children under 12 probably should not head the ball due to theinjuries that can occur.

The rate of injury in soccer hasbeen reported to be between 15 and 20 injuries per 1000 hours of play. The rateis slightly higher for female players than male participants. Injuries rangefrom a severe bruise to more traumatic type injuries (broken bones). Overuseinjuries are responsible for almost 30% of the injuries in soccer and rangefrom mild tendonitis (swelling of a tendon) all the way to a stress fracture.

Symptoms
Inflammation (swelling) is the most common signof an overuse injury. The signs of inflammation are redness, warmth andswelling, pain with movement, pain to deep touch, and a grinding feeling overthe muscle as it is moved. One or all of these signs may be present. In the earlystages, players may feel an aching pain after practice. As the injury getsworse, the pain will occur during practice or games with increasing pains as anattempt is made to maintain a high level of performance.

General prevention tips

As with any sport, a good warm-up isimportant to an injury-free soccer experience. Preventing soccer injuries canbe little tricky, especially if you are new to soccer. Players should be awareof their physical condition. Even seemingly minor injuries should be treated appropriately.Injuries tend to increase as players fatigue, so adequate rest is essential.Players should also warm-up and stretch prior to any practice or game, andwarm-down and stretch afterwards. The most important thing is that you must beproperly dressed with soccer uniformand must use comfortable and sweat absorbent soccer jerseys which are advanced wicking fabric technologies that extractmoisture from the skin to the fabric's outer surface where it quicklyevaporates, regulating body temperature. However, in this article I willgive you a few of tips on what you can do in order to protect yourself better.Now, let’s check out the tips…

• Stretching; focus particularly on the lower body and hips, and don't forget to stretch your neck gently. You could also stretch in the shower but I would not recommend this as first choice because you could fall and hurt yourself. So be careful if you really want to stretch in the shower
• Passing; Begin with short distance passing, then move gradually into longer distance drives.
• Shooting; Work up from lighter, shorter shots on net to harder shots.
• Sprinting; Include a few short distance sprints.
• Listen to your body; If you feel tired don’t practice. Take a day off instead. This will help you recover and you will also be able to perform better on next practice.
• Proper warm ups; This will raise your body temperature and prepare it for physical activity. By warming up you simply tell your body to get ready for hard physical activity.
• Use proper cleats: Always wear shin guards whether you are playing with your friends or in a regular competition.