Iliotibial Band Syndrome
Your knee’s structure is complex, and it’s responsible for supporting the weight of your body. These two factors make this joint the most commonly injured—in fact, between 5 and 6 million people each year seek treatment for knee injuries. One of these injuries is known as iliotibial band syndrome, or ITBS.
The iliotibial band is a strip of connective tissue known as a ligament that stretches...
Patellar tendonitis
The tendon that connects the knee cap, or patella, with your shin bone is known as the patellar tendon. Without it, you couldn't extend your lower leg to do things such as jump, kick a ball, pedal a bicycle, or run. But when you do these activities repeatedly, or if you have problems with alignment in your legs, feet or hips, this tendon can become overly stressed, causing it to become inflamed. This...
Fracture of the Talus
You may have never heard of the talus bone, but without it, you would be unable to walk. This bone is located between the base of your leg bones and your heel bone, providing a crucial source of stability so that your legs and feet can support your body weight. A fracture of this bone is called a talar fraction, and it occurs mainly as a result of a car accident or a fall, and with increasing frequency...
Little League Elbow
Throwing a baseball or softball can put significant strain on the elbow—and for children, whose bones are still growing, this can lead to an overuse injury known as Little League elbow.
Before puberty, the elbow contains a growth plate made of cartilage that is soft and less durable than hard bone, and which hasn’t yet reached its full length. The growth plate is attached to the muscles...
Chronic Compartment Syndrome
In your arms and legs, the muscles, blood vessels and nerves are grouped into compartments by tough tissue called fascia, which is designed to keep these groupings in place. The fascia's stiffness can become a problem, however, if your muscle swells. That's because the fascia cannot stretch, and the swelling can put intense pressure on the vessels, nerves and muscles of the affected limbs.
There...
Spondylolysis
There are many injuries that can cause back pain. When it occurs in children or adolescents, however, one of the most common culprits is spondylolysis, or a stress fracture on the bones of the lower back. In fact, the condition is most commonly diagnosed in adolescents aged 15 and 16, and the risk of spondylolysis increases during the growth spurts that occur during puberty.
The tiny cracks in the...
Stress Fracture
Sometimes, gravity can be an athlete’s worst enemy—especially in the case of stress fractures.
This overuse injury occurs most commonly among athletes who run and jump a lot, repeatedly putting a significant amount of weight on the legs and feet. That’s why most stress fractures occur in the bones of the foot and lower leg (they can also occur in the spine in a condition known as spondylolysis).
In...
Tennis Elbow
Perhaps one of the best-known sports injuries is tennis elbow, an overuse injury of a tendon in the elbow. Despite the name of the condition, it can actually be caused by any activity in which you flex and lift your wrist and hand repeatedly.
The most obvious symptoms of tennis elbow are, perhaps not surprisingly, elbow pain. This discomfort may radiate from the outside of the elbow, down to the...
Acute Compartment Syndrome
The nerves, blood vessels and muscles in your arms and legs are grouped into compartments by tough tissue called fascia that keeps these groups in place. Although the fascia's stiffness is what helps hold tissue in place, the rigidity of the fascia can become a problem if your muscle swells, since the fascia cannot stretch. For this reason, swelling can put intense pressure on the vessels, nerves and...
Bruised Heel Injury
Pounding the pavement (or a similarly hard surface) is often a sizable part of an athlete's training, and as a result, the heels of the feet take plenty of abuse, bearing the weight of the entire body. Unfortunately, the heel is protected only by a small pad of fat, and repetitively landing on the heels can cause this pad to ride up on the side of the heel bone, leaving it unprotected.
Not surprisingly,...