Snapping Hip Syndrome
If you experience a snapping or clicking sensation when you flex or extend your hip (by bringing your knee towards your waist or by straightening the hip joint), you may have snapping hip syndrome, also known as clicking hip. This condition is harmless unless it is accompanied by pain, which can persist for months or even years if untreated.
Snapping hip syndrome is most common among athletes whose...
Winged Scapula
When the shoulder blade, or scapula, sticks out, sometimes causing pain or pressure, the condition is known as winged scapula. The scapula sticks out most when you lift your arms or when you push against something with your arms, and you might have stiffness or trouble elevating your arms all the way. It may also be difficult to lift objects that ordinarily are not too heavy for you.
Winged scapula...
Clavicle Fracture
If you fall onto your outstretched arm or you shoulder, or are directly hit on your collarbone, this can cause a fracture of the collarbone, or clavicle. Symptoms commonly include pain and swelling around the collarbone, and you may also be able to feel the fracture through the skin. You may feel sharp pain whenever you make a movement that disturbs the clavicle.
Sports that increase the risk of...
Frozen Shoulder
When the joint between the shoulder blade, or scapula, and humerus, or upper bone of the arm, becomes stiffened or less supple, it causes a condition known as frozen shoulder. When this occurs in athletes, it's often due to trauma to the shoulder joint and is also called post-traumatic stiff shoulder. Sports that increase the risk of frozen shoulder include those that may cause you to fall, such as...
Rib Stress Fracture
The serratus anterior is a muscle in your back that helps you perform pull-ups and push-ups. But when this muscle contracts repeatedly, it can batter the rib bones. One possible result is an overuse injury: stress fracture of the rib.
Sports that involve a lot of overhead motion, such as tennis or baseball, increase the risk of a stress fracture of the first rib when a muscle in the neck pulls...
Hip Labral Tear
The cartilage that lines the rim of your hip joint's socket is known as the labrum, and it helps hold your hip joint together by acting like a suction cup. When this cushioning tissue tears, the condition is known as a labral tear.
Sports that increase the risk of labral tear include golfing, soccer, football, ballet and hockey. A hip labral tear can cause a "catching" sensation or a clicking sound...
Groin Strain
When you tense or tighten the muscles that stretch from the inner thigh bone to the inside of the pelvic too quickly or forcefully, it can result in a groin strain, also known as a groin pull. These muscles, known as the adductor muscles, pull the legs together. This injury is most common among athletes who run and jump a lot or who close their legs forcefully, such as in hockey, swimming, football,...
Elbow bursitis
The tip of your elbow may seem bony, but there's actually a sac called a bursa that sits between the bones that make up the elbow. Elbow bursitis, also known as students elbow, occurs when this sac becomes inflamed or irritated, resulting in pain during activity and while at rest, swelling, difficulty in moving the elbow, and sometimes a feeling of warmth around the elbow.
Elbow bursitis can be...
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...
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...