There two main types of sports injuries. The first is Traumatic, which involves tissues being bruised, broken, torn, or damaged as a result of a physiologic overload to a specific area of the body. The knowledge of traumatic injuries in sports medicine is vast and highly effective solutions have been extensively researched. Traumatic injuries are usually a “Single-Culprit, Single-Victim” scenario. An example would be an athlete getting hit on the outside of the knee (“Single-Culprit”) resulting in a torn-ligament on the inside of the knee (“Single-Victim”). The solutions for a traumatic injury is to identify the injured tissues, treat the symptoms, repair any damage, rehabilitate and gradually return-to-activity.
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“Competitive and recreational sports have become an important part of life in Western countries over the last 4 decades. Competitive and professional sports have received much attention in the mass media, which, in turn, has increased the demands on athletes. This development has been followed by the increased prevalence of sport injuries, especially overuse injuries, because athletes are required to train more intensely and for longer.”
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The second type of sports injury is Overuse, which involve tissues being irritated, inflamed and painful as a result of a repetitive physiologic overload to a specific area of the body. The knowledge of overuse injuries in sports medicine is limited even though effective solutions have been extensively researched. “The diagnosis and treatment of these conditions are a challenge to sports medicine physicians. Trial and error methods of treatment and too little attention to basic research have resulted in less than optimum solutions.”
Overuse injuries are typically a “Multi-Culprit, Single-Victim” scenario. An example would be a pain on the outside of the knee that came on gradually and got worse over weeks or months. “Injuries are often related to biomechanical abnormalities removed from the specific injury site, requiring evaluation of the entire kinetic chain.”
The solution for an overuse injury is significantly complicated that simply locating the injured tissue, treating the symptoms, rehabilitating and returning-to-activity. Due to the “Muti-Culprit” nature of overuse injuries, the last culprit that pushes you to seek help is usually only one of a half a dozen culprits involved. Let’s say the pain on the outside of your knee has been getting worse with each run. Then halfway in to your next run you have to stop the pain is so bad. This run, nor the others, are the only culprit to why you have pain in on knee but not the other. If it were the running were the only culprit, you would be hurting at the same space on both sides of your body with each run. The other culprits could be muscle and joint dysfunction in your hip/pelvis or ankle/foot. It could be you have leg length inequality or suboptimal proprioception (ability to balance and coordinate a repetitive single leg stance while running). It could be suboptimal kinetic chain muscular stability or flexibility on the symptomatic side. It could be one, all-of-the-above or even more culprits. That is why overuse injuries can be so confusing for so many athletes, active individuals and even sports injury specialist. You need to be screened and evaluated to narrow down which culprits need to be eliminated for truly fixing your particular injury. Getting screened before you start training or as soon as you notice symptoms is the most proactive approach to preventing overuse sports injuries.
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