Sports, a word that can be defined in many ways, but also a word that carries a lot of weight in American culture. No matter how sports are defined, they come with consequences. Unfortunately, many young athletes in the world are prone to athletic injuries, around 90%. Although injuries can be hard to avoid, there are many ways to prevent them. 

Healing Process

After a sports injury, the human body immediately starts healing, and along with this comes three stages. The first stage is hemostasis/inflammation which activates the body’s repair system. The second stage of the healing process is the Rebuild/Repair stage, which is when your body lays down a new tissue by the injured area and repairs/reconnects nerves to the damaged tissue. The final stage of this process ends with the remodeling and strength training.  During this time, the muscles around the injured area should be challenged with strength training. Stressing the muscles and connective tissues stimulates growth and improved function, and is therefore essential to recovery.

 Experiences 

While different injuries vary, so does treatment, WMS student Gavin Slicner was unable to attend his baseball season due to a common injury–growth plate separation. Like many others, Slicner’s injury was due to over usage, which caused the growth plate to slightly separate and produce pain while playing. This injury left him unable to play for 6 weeks. Slicner said, “If I didn’t ignore my injury at first,  I probably would’ve been back on the field sooner.” Though his injury left him unable to play, luckily it didn’t hold him back from learning. 

Softball players also discussed the importance of seeking help once something feels off. 8th grade student Jordan Waites who just finished her softball season tore her muscle. The cause of this was once again over usage of throwing. Because she sought help, the injury took less time to heal. Waites said, “This injury made me realize that I shouldn’t throw as much now.”

Waites also discussed how sometimes people “push through” the pain during certain situations, which can result in even worse injury. Resources from the Texas Health organization say that pushing through the pain causes more damage to your body than good. If most people start realizing this, will there be less sports injuries? Will the amount over usage cases decrease? Will resting and letting your body heal become more common?  The simple answer is yes.  But why do people continue to overuse muscles?

Leo Anderson is a 15 year old athlete who was unable to complete his baseball season due to an injury. The injury happened in his growth plate, which  is becoming more common around the world. I can relate to this because, though I was unaware whether I was overusing my body or not, not being on the field affected me. Though being able to rest really helped me recover easily, knowing whether to use my body more than usual definitely made me watch what I was doing with my body.

WMS Vice Principal, Mr. Harris has experience with injuries because of his past years being an athletic trainer. When I asked Harris about my injury,which separated my growth plate of the shoulder, he replied, “As athletic trainers, we treat injuries instead of diagnosing them.” This makes sense since it would make their job harder. Harris explained how my injury was better than most others usually requiring surgery. 

Situation Thinking

Many athletes around the world either get criticized because of their injuries in combination with how much they train. Aaron Judge is a great example of this due to the impact he has on his team, the New York Yankees.  Fans and critics  often criticize him for training too much leading to injury.  But the truth is that usually it depends on how your body reacts. Some people can go through days of hard work and not be affected, while others can’t. I can relate because I love to work, but since my injury I know I have to take a break sometimes.

Though players may also feel pressured to continue playing during situations such as a championship, they have to realize how important their health is. If you were to go and continue using your arm for throwing even though you know it’s not right, the chances of your injury getting worse increase immensely.

Pressure being poured on athletes hasn’t changed.. If you were to really hurt something while playing and play through it, society has created the image of this being cool, and tough. But what does this do to your body? 

As explained previously, your injury gets worse. You also have to think about how this can affect your future. What if because of that you would never be able to play again, or you wouldn’t be able to do something physically anymore. I feel like if athletes take this into account, injuries would decrease in time and in general.

Over Usage-

Around 30% of all injuries are due to over usage. Most of the sources  that I’ve interviewed have had their injuries caused by overuse. When these injuries are so common, what plan is there to help prevent this? Resources from the Mayo Clinic state that mixing up routines and giving your body a necessary amount of rest will slightly decrease your chances of getting an over usage injury. While many times it’s hard to avoid this, by doing the little things such as taking precautions or stretching extra  before something, may help you heal quicker even if this happens to you.

Over usage has taken a toll on athletes in many ways. Injuries are hard to avoid, but can eventually be easier to prevent. If many athletes understood most injuries are caused by overuse, athletes would be able to heal sooner and, more importantly, prevent serious injuries.