Sports Injuries
Anyone can acquire a sports-type injury. Sports injuries can be similar to any other type of injury, but are often acquired during a specific sporting event. Whether you’re an amateur or professional athlete, a sports injury can also occur during a casual recreational type activity, such as a weekend warrior type discomfort, or with simply golf or bowling.
FOOTWEAR IS KEY
Footwear is extremely important when playing sports. Proper support and flexion areas of the shoe are important to allow for proper motion versus straining motion of the foot within the shoe.
THINGS TO REMEMBER:
Buy a supportive shoe for football that can allow for running and side to side motion. At times patients do not need a specific cleated shoe, but more of a turf-type shoe due to the fact that the ground is not necessarily as the grass is muddy, but according it is a lower pile of grass with hard dirt, and so sometimes a turf shoe is actually a better cleat.
For basketball, a high top shoe would support the heel to the ball of the foot, and bend easily at the ball of the foot. It is important with adequate stability noted for side to side type motions. Similar for tennis, but for more of a lower-cut type shoe.
And finally for running, we would suggest a shoe which is supported again from the heel to the ball of the foot, and bends easily at the ball of the foot. Having something that is flexible and appropriate is important for your foot. Certainly not all feet are the same, and depending on your foot type, this may require some modifications.
At Upstate Footcare we deal with many common sports injuries. Some of the injuries we deal with include:
TURF TOE
Turf toe can be caused by jamming or undue force of the toe due to an impact type injury, or simply pressure of the foot against the cleat itself. The symptoms of the injury are pain and swelling to the toe, either at the toe joint itself or the metatarsal phalangeal joint. The injury can sometimes be treated simply with ice, rest and proper shoe gear. However, other times the area can be potentially injected. Prevention of this injury can happen with proper shoe gear, adjustments to the cleats and/or sneakers, and the possibility of orthotics.
FOOT SPRAIN OR STRAIN
A foot sprain or strains are caused by either a direct impact or a twisting or torqueing of the foot itself. Symptoms can be pain, swelling, and bruising, possibly noted to this area. The foot injury is treated usually with ice, over the counter anti-inflammatory medication, rest, and elevation to this area. Sometimes these are unable to be prevented, but certainly any type of proper shoe gear to minimize the odds of this in the future would be necessary.
INGROWN TOENAILS
Ingrown toenails, believe it or not, can be a foot injury. The causes of them are improper shoes or shoes that are passed from one teammate to another, or if the school requires specific shoes to be worn and they are not necessarily the proper shoe or the right style shoe for the patient. Any of these can lead to ingrown toenails. Symptoms include pain, and swelling at the ingrown toenail itself. The injury is treated with removal of the effecting painful portion of nail. It can be prevented by allowing patients to wear proper shoe gear while in their sports-specific program.