Sports Injury Assignment

Sports Injuries Assignment

Introduction:

I aim to complete an analysis of a traumatic injury and overuse injury, associated with football. The traumatic injury I will use for my analysis and evaluation will be a pulled hamstring. The overuse injury I will analyse will be a stress fracture of the 5th metalarsal.

Understanding in a traumatic injury

A traumatic injury can be linked to a very specific incident or moment, which caused the injury. Forces acting upon joints, bone or connective tissue, typically causes traumatic injuries where the force applied is greater then the maximum force bearing tolerance of that specific body part.

There are two main ways a traumatic injury can occur; direct impact caused by an external body making contact

The injury is common amongst athletes whose sports involve explosive sprinting or acceleration. The injury can usually be accredited to an imbalance in muscle strength between the hamstrings muscle group and it’s antagonistic muscle group the quadriceps, with the quads being stronger then the hamstrings. The high force loading generated by explosive contraction of the quadriceps and the corresponding eccentric action required by the hamstrings can be the cause of the injury. An incorrect warm up can also put the hamstrings at far greater risk of injury due to the large forces exerted on the muscle and the amount of stretch applied when sprinting.

Anatomy of the hamstrings:

The hamstrings are made up of three separate muscles; the biceps femoris, semitendinosus and the semimembranosus. These muscles work together to extend the hip and also to flex the knee. When running the hamstrings slow down the leg at the end of its forward stroke and prevent the trunk form flexing at the hip joint. Any of the hamstring muscles can be strained and become damaged.

Running, jumping or rapid changes in direction can all lead to the build up of pressure and gradual wear on the bone. Fatigued muscles that can no longer absorb the shock (forces) related to sports activity, can lead to small cracks in the bone as a result of the increased forces action upon the bone.

Anatomy of the foot:

The foot is made up of 26 bones and it is possible to sustain a stress fracture in any bone. However the most common bone to sustain the injury is one of the metatarsals. This is because the metatarsals form the bone support for the arches of the foot where lots of the force is absorbed and dissipated throughout the foot. Repeated stress acting upon these bones can lead to a small compromise in the bone structure.

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Cause of the