2 min read • October 20, 2022
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By Pratosh Velpuri
Basketball involves fundamental and immense athleticism. Professional players to high school athletes can be sidelined temporarily or suffer their entire playing career. In the NBA, injuries are the most common reason for shortening or ending a player’s career and livelihood. Playing hoop involves short, intermittent bursts of activity with quick jerks and immense physical contact, all of which lead to an injury in basketball.
Some of the most common basketball injuries include:
Ankle injuries are very common in all sports but most popular amongst basketball players. Players constantly jump, most often hanging in the air for a few seconds to land on 1 or 2 of their legs awkwardly. Ankle sprain is a very common form of this injury. Seriousness of the ankle sprain can depend on the amount of pain and swelling experienced by the player and severity of the tear of the ligaments of the ankle joint. Although the ankle joint is a very well supported unit with numerous ligaments spanning every direction connecting the lower leg to the foot, it can be damaged due to the high shear of stress experienced in trauma playing basketball.
Knee injuries are also very common amongst basketball players. Rapid motions and hard-court surfaces make falls on knees very problematic and increase the likelihood of a knee injury. These include a tear in anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), meniscal tears, patellar tendonitis, inflammation of the patella, posterior cruciate ligament tears (PCL), and knee tendon strains; all of which provide immense support in your knee joint.
Although Achilles tendon tears and injuries are uncommon amongst amateur and college basketball players, these injuries have claimed the careers of many great NBA players such as Kobe Bryant and Demarcus Cousins. Players are very slow to rehabilitate from such injuries. The Achilles tendon is the largest and most durable tendon in the whole body and supports a wide list of movements involving your lower leg from running to jumping. Any time a basketball player rebounds, cuts, shoots, or runs, he or she puts impact on the tendon and leads to inflammation. Warming up or wearing compression sleeves for basketball games help with preventing Achilles injuries and recovery from impact in this area.
Basketball like football is a high contact sport where players try to out-compete one another for the rebound or shot. Most often, basketball players strike another’s thigh muscles and cause bruising of their muscles, disabling much movement. When the muscle is inflamed or injured, the blunt force can also cause bleeding. Immediate care should be requested to limit internal bleeding.
While trying to recover a rebound or trying to steal a pass, a basketball player can awkwardly strike the ball or floor at the tip of his or her fingers. This injury is also very common and involves swelling and stiffness at the jammed fingertips. If the jammed finger looks severely crooked or dislocated, seek medical attention right away.
Although concussions are usually thought to happen most commonly amongst football players due to the high contact and tackling, concussions are still one of the most common basketball injuries. Intense defense and running can involve players hitting heads or other body parts to a player’s head inadvertently. Players can experience amnesia and disorientation following a head injury, and the confusion can get worse. If a player experiences vomiting, difficulty waking up, or a change in consciousness, then seek help immediately.
Like head injuries and concussions, basketball can experience eye injuries due to the aggressiveness of the sport. These include scratched cornea, corneal flap, orbital hematomas, and orbital hemorrhages. Wearing the right protective eye wear can reduce the chance of acquiring such an injury immensely.
This method usually involves resting the injured area and icing for 20 minutes every 2 hours. Rest and Ice seems to be the one of the first steps to perform while treating many basketball injuries such as ankle sprains and knee sprains. This reduces swelling, ease pain, and speeds up healing especially in minor injuries.
Taping with a soft cast for a certain amount of time will reduce loss of further range of motion and control the radiation of pain and injury. This is most used in addition to RICE in minor injuries like minor cases of jammed fingers. It can provide better support and decreased pain through neurological suppression. Repositioning injured joints can relieve muscle strain and tension.
Shockwave therapy works by sending diffused waves through a point of injury to stimulate broader and deeper injury without additional damage. This drives the body’s inherent regenerative capacities to maximize to create new blood vessels, nerves, and muscle around the targeted area in a much expedient manner. This rapid regeneration can provide fast healing without needing surgery.
These are used to reduce fever, prevent blood clots, decrease inflammation, and overall reduce pain. These are diagnosed in many types of injuries and diseases as the body's initial response to any injury is to utilize and recruit immune cells to fight infections. However, this induces the body’s pain responses and causes many symptoms of the most common basketball injuries.
This can also be used to mobilize joints of the foot and ankle in a prepared, relaxed manner for the basketball player while having appropriate time to heal. It is very important that basketball players reduce aggressive contact and strenuous movement during such periods.
This is most often reserved for serious ligament tears and muscle sprains. Sports medicine specialists will evaluate the most serious conditions for orthopedic surgeons.
Basketball is a very entertaining sport due to its continuous and unexpected bursts of athletic plays involving basketball players dunking, jumping, shooting at hard angles, intense physical contact and aggression, and quick runs. However, it is prone to many common injuries involving head to the feet, and it is very important for a player to utilize the prevention methods he or she has in front of them to avoid such an injury and extend their playing careers.
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