Anterior Cruciate Ligament Tear

You've probably heard of professional athletes sidelined by an anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, tear. This injury, caused by pivoting suddenly and twisting the knee in the process, can make your knee feel shaky or unstable. It also causes swelling and intense pain, and you might hear a popping sound at the time of injury. If you experience these symptoms and suspect that you have torn your ACL,...

Achilles Tendonitis

According to a well-known Greek myth, the god Achilles was impervious to the arrows of his enemies—except for his heel, which proved to be his downfall. This part of the anatomy can also prove to be a problem for athletes who participate in sports that demand a lot of jumping, starting and stopping, such as tennis, basketball or running up and down hills. That’s because increasing this kind...

Abdominal Strain

Weight lifting, or even just lifting a heavy object using improper form, can cause an injury to the abdominal muscles that is known as an abdominal strain. This injury usually affects the front abdominal muscles, but can also cause pain in the muscles on the side of your abdomen, known as the oblique muscles. Football players and weight lifters are at the highest risk of this injury. The first symptom...

Inflammation or Rupture of the Triceps Tendon

The triceps tendon sits on the back of your upper arm, connecting your triceps muscle to your elbow. Lifting weights that are too heavy means the connective tissue in your arm has to try to make up for this extra weight, putting excess strain on these tendons. This can rupture the triceps tendon or cause inflammation due to overuse, and is an injury most often found in weight lifters and football players. Key...

Entrapment of the Median Nerve

Median nerve entrapment, also known as carpal tunnel syndrome, may not be known as a sports injury, but in fact the condition can be caused by activities such as swinging a squash or tennis racket. Symptoms commonly include numbness and tingling in the hands or wrist, and pain when moving the fingers or hand. You also may feel weak when you try to carry bags, and as though you are losing fine muscle...

Osteitis Pubis

Groin injuries can be some of the most painful and most difficult to treat; one such injury is known as osteitis pubis. This condition occurs when the base of the bone where the two halves of the pubic bone meet in the middle (the pubic symphysis) become inflamed. Bony growths can also develop around the pubic symphysis. Osteitis pubis is most common among soccer players and runners and causes intense...

Stress Fracture of the Fibula

The fibula is one of the two bones that make up the lower leg, and is the thinner of the two (the other bone is the tibia). Because your lower leg can bear quite a bit of weight and strain during sports that require running and jumping, these bones are prone to stress fractures, or tiny cracks in the bone. Although the fibula is the site of a stress fracture less often than is the tibia (because the...

Navicular Stress Fracture

In many sports, the foot can take quite a beating, and over time, this can lead to a stress fracture. The navicular, a bone in the foot that sits atop the heel bone, can be vulnerable to stress fracture, and this injury is rather common among athletes who do a lot of jumping and running. Sports that particularly increase the risk of navicular stress fracture include track and field, ballet, football,...

Extensor Tendonitis

The five tendons that stretch across the top of the foot are collectively known as the extensor tendons, and like other connective tissue, if these tendons become inflamed, it can cause pain and swelling, and this condition is known as extensor tendonitis.  The extensor tendons help pull the foot upward into an "L" shape, working as a team with the calf muscle, which pulls the foot downward. Athletes...

Footballer’s Ankle

As every athlete knows, repetitive motions can lead to wear and tear which can give way to painful injuries over time. The movement of kicking--such as in sports like soccer, also known as football--is no different. The repetitive strain kicking a ball can place on the connective tissue, or ligaments, in the front of the ankle, can lead to the painful condition known as footballer's ankle. Because...