Sports Injuries Prevention and Treatment

Introduction

Disability is defined as physical disabilities, insufficiencies and certain traumas that prevent individuals from performing their motor functions, sometimes temporarily and sometimes permanently. Some cases of disability are encountered directly or indirectly in sports activities. The structure of these injuries varies according to the sports activity being done. In general, bones, organs and soft tissues are damaged in the injuries experienced [1].

With the treatment programs implemented after these injuries, it is aimed to relieve the pain of athletes, to enable them to regain their mobility and to resume sports in a healthy way. For this reason, the factors that cause disability should be eliminated first. In this process, first of all, it should be determined that there are sports activities in the background of the disability [2]. For this reason, it is very important to have basic information about the sport in which the disability occurred in order to understand the disability story correctly and to apply the correct treatment program.

Trauma, which is one of the concepts within the scope of disabilities that occur as a result of sports activities, is expressed as local injuries that cause physical and mental problems on individuals and cause damage to the muscular system, bones, tissues or organs of the individual. Many of the injuries encountered in the competitions are experienced as a result of trauma. Here, by the expression wound, tissue damages occurring under or above the skin are understood. Pain or loss of function may occur as a result of injuries. It is possible to evaluate these wounds in two classes as open wound and closed wound. The most important risk of open wounds is the emergence of the possibility of infection [3]. For this reason, it would be healthier to perform medical interventions quickly on open wounds.

Injury is expressed as the condition that occurs before, during and after birth and that the organs have difficulty in performing their functions [4]. In general, disability is the limitation and deficiency that individuals experience in the face of a problem they experience during an activity that they can successfully perform under normal conditions. The injuries experienced within the scope of sports activities can be temporary or permanent or have a structure that increases their impact [2]. It is possible to express the state of disability that may occur in the continuation of these disabilities or develop due to different congenital reasons, briefly, the failure to fulfill the functions that occur as a result of the disabilities in line with the age, gender, sociological and cultural values ​of the individuals [5].

All damages that occur in sports activities are collectively referred to as sports injuries. Environmental and personal factors are effective in the emergence of sports injuries. Statistical data on sports injuries do not give very healthy results, since many injuries are solved within the teams and normal medical records are not passed. In order to be able to talk about the full treatment of injuries caused by sports activities, athletes should be able to continue doing sports as before the injury [6].

Medical interventions performed after the injuries experienced by the athletes have a very important place in the recovery and recovery processes of the athletes. So much so that if these processes are not managed correctly, the athletes are not psychologically ready for the return processes. For this reason, emotions of athletes should be analyzed carefully before and after injury [7]. Adapting the results obtained as a result of these tests to the treatment processes can positively contribute to the return of athletes in a much healthier way.

Regardless of the preferred sports branch, every athlete is likely to encounter injuries of different degrees throughout their sports life. Here, it is not important for athletes to engage in contact sports or team sports. Although it has the characteristics of the branch of interest, every athlete faces the risk of injury. There are many applications that need to be done to reduce the possibility of encountering sports injuries. However, the most important of these is the training that can reach the physical competencies required by the sports branch. In this context, trainers and athletes actively working in sports should definitely exercise regularly [8].

“Trauma” is one of the most frequently used concepts in a sports injury story. Physical deformations that occur once or are continuous in the tissues of individuals, whether external or internal, can be expressed as trauma. First of all, there are responsibilities that organizations and sports clubs should undertake in order to prevent injuries caused by traumas and later due to some internal factors and to keep the negativities that may arise at minimum levels [8]. It is possible to evaluate the measures to be taken to prevent athlete injuries in three groups [9].

Conclusion

The aim of this study is to compile the results obtained from the studies in the literature by compiling the studies on athlete injuries, prevention of injuries and treatment of injuries.

Studies in the literature present findings that the number of sports injuries or injuries in various sports branches is increasing day by day. It is concluded that 4% of these injuries or injuries required the transfer of athletes to the hospital [16]. For this reason, sports injuries or injuries are considered as a public health problem in many countries [16]. Physical fitness and physical competence are important factors that can prevent injuries and injuries in sports [17]. Due to the incentives for women’s participation in social life, there is an increase in the participation of young women in sports with a license. Injury or injury rates of young women may be similar to men [18].

In Kanbir’s study, he stated that the sports branches that have the most injury risk are football, American football, basketball, athletics and wrestling [19]. In the study conducted by Magnussen et al., It was found that 42% of those who were injured or injured in sports were football and 26% were handball [20]. In Yılmaz’s study, it was stated that most of the sports branches where injury or injury is experienced are observed in sports where physical interventions are also possible [21]. In the same study, it was concluded that the branch of volleyball is the sports branch with the least injury. Ülkar et al. Found that 23.3% of children who applied to polyclinics for sports injuries were football, 17.2% basketball and 14.5% volleyball [22].

In Yıldız’s study on footballers playing in the amateur league, it was stated that 72.4% of the injuries were experienced during the match, 12.4% in training and 15.2% in unofficial matches [23]. In Gasim’s study, he stated that 52.9% of sports injuries or injuries occurred during training and 29.4% during the match and stated that the reason for this situation was overloading and under-heating [24].

While there are studies showing that warming up exercises before the competition or training do not contribute to the performance of the athletes, some other studies have stated that the warm-up exercises before the competition or training have a positive contribution to the performance. However, there is an acknowledgment that warming up can prevent muscle injuries and tears that may occur during competition or training [25]. In the study conducted by Taşkın in Konya province, it was determined that warming up exercises performed before training or before the competition can prevent possible sports injuries or injuries, increase the anaerobic resistance of the athletes and increase the efficiency provided by the athlete [26].

As a result of the results obtained, in order to prevent injuries;

• Athletes should take extra protective measures against their injuries.
• The use of warming creams should be reduced or, if creams are used, more attention should be paid to active warming in order to increase muscle blood flow.
• Athletes with previous sports injuries should be more cautious about other modifiable factors that pose a risk of injury, as they have a high risk of injury.
• Athletes should improve their physical fitness characteristics such as anaerobic and aerobic strength and flexibility.