Hamstring Injury Research Paper

Elbow Injuries Tennis Elbow: This injury is called tennis elbow due to the problem being significant for tennis players. Tennis Elbow is caused by the overuse of the arm, forearm and hand muscles. The abrupt or subtle injury off the muscle or tendon area around the outside of the elbow, is a major contributor to the pain that people who have tennis elbow receives. The area where the muscles and tendons of the forearm attaches to the outside of the bony area (lateral epicondyle) is where it is affected. Tennis players mostly receives this injury on their dominant arm but it can occur or either arm.

Tendons are fibrous connective tissues composed of mostly of parallel arrays of collagen fiber bundles that densely packed together. Tendon usually connects muscle to bone, functioning simply to transmit forces and withstand tension during the contraction of muscles. A rupture and laceration of the tendon is more often the result of tensile force beyond what the tissue can stretch. Annually, there are 16.4 million musculoskeletal injuries in the United States which involve tendon and ligament injuries. It was evaluated that 200,000 ACL tears happen every year in the United States with 100,000 ACL reconstructive surgeries performed annually.

The Rotator Cuff injury effects the muscles on the dorsum of the scapula and the iriceps brachii. It is a group of tendons that surround the shoulder joint and can be damaged/injured easily. The Rotator cuff can be injured to different extents. They can range from simple inflation to complete or partial tears.

GRF Impact forces according to Messier et al. (1991) have been implicated in the risk of overuse running injuries along with active forces which can also have an important role in contributing to overuse running injuries. Impact forces can be defined as the force resulting from two bodies colliding over a period of time (Nigg et al., 1987 CITE). The graph below (Figure 2) represents vertical ground reaction force against time when running. FIGURE 2 (Hreljac, 2004)

Ankle sprain is one of the most common injuries in sports . Seventy five percent of these injury cause is an inversion trauma1.Acute Ankle trauma is responsible for 10-30 percent of sports common in young athletes 2, Predominantly in athletes participating in running and jumping sports 3. The acute injury consists of damage to the lateral ligament and results in pain, swelling, and limitation of movement 4. The inability to dorsiflex is thought to be indicative of a severe ankle sprain injury5 and is often a complication of these injuries on follow-up6. Restriction of dorsiflexion would normally be expected gait limit and other functional activities.

The Achilles tendon is a band of fibrous tissue that connects the calf muscles to the heel bone. The two-calf muscles that attaches to the heel bone are the gastrocnemius and soleus. The Achilles tendon lower part of the calf that attaches to the calcaneus. The Achilles tendon allows to stand, run, or jump while being on our toes. While doing any movement the calf muscles flex and pull on the heel.

Tested For: The varus and valgus tests for the elbow are stress tests utilized to assess the structural integrity of ligaments of the elbow. Specifically, assessment of damage to the radial (lateral) collateral ligament of the elbow is conducted with the varus stress test and the ulnar (medial) collateral ligament of the elbow is conducted with the valgus stress test. Test Performance: Performance of the varus and valgus stress tests for the elbow are outlined below with the specific differences in clinician position and action, followed by outcomes and interpretations: ● Pt. initial testing position: Sitting relaxed in a chair or at edge of bed with the test elbow flexed from 20° to 30° and the test forearm supinated. (Both tests) ● Clinician

The lateral and medial collateral ligaments The collateral ligaments, found in the ankle, consist of three main bands on the lateral and nedial aspect. There are a number of bands that accompany the collateral ligaments. The lateral collateral ligaments are comprised of the anterior talofibular ligament (ATL), the calcaneofibular ligament (CFL) and the posterior talofibular ligament. The supplementary bands that are related with the lateral compound are the lateral talocalcaneal ligament (LTCL), and the posterior intermalleolar ligament.

Fitness has long been regarded as directly correlated to health in a person. A certain degree of fitness is also required for the completion of several tasks, such as climbing and lifting. The degree of fitness needed depends on the task with many sports often needing a high level of fitness, whereas tasks such as lifting an arm needs relatively little fitness levels. Even within sports, there are different degrees of fitness needed, as well as different types of fitness (Martens, 2004). For example, running would require a great deal of aerobic and cardiovascular fitness.

Tennis Injuries There are various types of injuries that occur in tennis. Tennis is a sport that consists of multiple motions including starting, stopping, sprinting, and motions that compress the spine such as the serve. Because the entire body is active in this sport, almost all of the body is susceptible to injury. The regions that will be mentioned in the following section are the upper extremities, the lower extremities, and the trunk region.