As we discussed in one of our previous blog posts, sports can help improve cognitive function. However, injuries from sports could lead to immobilization, which could aggravate cognitive impairment. Today, we will discuss what types of injuries are possible and how to prevent such injuries.
Sports Injury Types
- Sprain vs. Strain: Sprain is an injury from over-stretching or tearing the ligaments. Strain is over-stretching or tearing muscles or tendons. Ligaments are connective tissues connecting bone to bone. Tendons are connective tissues connecting muscles to bones.
- Swollen Muscles: also known as ‘strained muscle’ or ‘pulled muscle,’ are injuries from over-stretching or tearing muscles.
- Bone Fractures: Fractures are broken bones. They are categorized as either open or closed, complete or incomplete. A closed fracture does not break the skin, while an open fracture does. An incomplete fracture leads to a crack in a bone but does not separate the bones.
- Dislocations: an injury when a bone slips out of a joint.
How to Prevent Sports Injuries
- Use proper skills/technique: Knowing how to play sports appropriately is the first step to preventing injuries.
- Warm Up: Cold muscles are prone to injuries. Do light cardio exercises (around 10 minutes) or do stretches (each stretch lasting at least 20 seconds) before participating in sports.
- Strengthen your core muscles: A strong core improves balance and stability, which may help prevent injuries.
- Take breaks: Prolonged exercises will increase your risk of injuries. Make sure to take a cool-down break after your exercise. This should be twice as long as warming up before the exercise.
- Wear protective sports gear: If your sports have protective gear, wear them. Make sure to wear proper shoes for the sports.
How to Treat Sports Injuries
If you do sustain an injury, do not worry! There are steps that you can take to treat them. One acronym you can remember is RICE:
- R: Rest. Your body will need to focus on healing, and continuous physical activities may impede your healing process.
- I: Ice your injury. Icing your injured area will help prevent swelling by decreasing the blood flow to the injured area and relieving pain. Apply ice for 15-20 minutes, with clothing wrapped around it to prevent frostbite.
- C: Compress the injured area. Wrapping with an elastic bandage will help prevent fluid build-up in the injured area. It can also stabilize the injured area to prevent further damage and reduce pain. If you feel a tingling sensation and feel the blood is not flowing well into the area, you might want to loosen the bandage.
- E: Elevate. Raising your injured area above your heart level will prevent fluid build-up around your injured area.
Conclusion
We explored different sports injuries you can sustain, ways to prevent such injuries, and steps you can take if you happen to have an injury. We hope that this will encourage you to have more physical activities, which will improve your cognitive function!
Disclaimer: please note that this is an informational blog post. If you have concerns about your health, please contact your physician!
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