Soccer remains the most popular sports worldwide. While known as soccer in the United States, it is known worldwide as association football, or just football. It is currently played by approximately 250 million individuals in over two hundred countries. The sport involves two teams with eleven members on each team. The teams must score goals with a spherical ball by passing the ball from player to player. However, the players are not allowed to touch the ball with their hands. Rather, they must use their other body parts, such as elbows, knees, feet and even their heads to pass the ball from player to player (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2014). Since the sport involves running, jumping and other physical activity, it has a wide variety of injuries associated with it. This paper will focus on the more common soccer injuries, how they occur and how they are treated.
Common Soccer Injuries
As with all sports, soccer produces a number of common injuries. These injuries are related to the running, jumping, and hitting associated with the sport. The most common injury associated with the sport includes lower extremity sprains and strains. It is important to distinguish what a sprain is and what a strain is. A sprain is an injury to a joint. It normally involves the ligaments of the joint being stretched beyond what their normal capacity is. A ligament is type of fibrous tissue that connects bones with other bones. A strain is an injury to a muscle. It is more commonly referred to as a “pulled muscle.” Depending upon the severity of the muscle strain, the muscle fibers and tissues may actually be torn. Obviously, all muscle strains and joint sprains have a varying level of severity. The various levels of severity associa...
... middle of paper ...
...However, dislocations still require a period of rest to ensure that the ligaments and tends can heal properly. Fractures are usually “set” with a cast. Obviously, this requires a significant period of time until the person can play the sport again. An ACL tear normally requires surgery. The person will also need to take a serious break from the sport. A person should not play soccer again, or engage in any physical activity, after a serious injury until a physician has cleared the person to do so (Stop Sports Injuries, n.d.).
Conclusion
Soccer is the most popular sport in the world. As a contact sport, it often leads to injuries in its players. These injuries include sprains, strains, fractures and minor injuries. A common injury is a tear in the ACL in the knee. While some injuries require a period of rest only, other injuries require surgery.
Sometimes the UCL will weaken and stretch (technically a sprain), making it incompetent. Other times a catastrophic stress will cause the structure to "pop" or blow out. The injury isn't tremendously painful, and it can be incredibly diffic...
The majority of ACL injuries can be defined as ‘non-contact’ (without direct trauma to knee joint), which occur during various sporting activities involving high risk dynamic movements ⁶ ¹¹. The mechanism involved in non-contact ACL injury during sporting activities is commonly attributed to foot planting, pivoting, decelerating or side cutting movements ¹². The need for further investigation into the aforementioned non-contact ACL injury mechanisms and risk factors is facilitated by continuing high incidence rates, long recovery periods and economic burdens ³ ¹¹. The remainder of the current review will primarily look into the association between biomechanics and ...
In spite of this the rate of ACL injury is almost equal through all levels of sports, from beginner, to recreational, to professional athletes. The most widely publicized incident of ACL damage has come from Theresa Edwards who was a top female athlete. She was a basketball player who went to the limit with sports. She went beyond her capability and her ligament couldn’t withstand the pressure and snapped. She is not the only but just one example of many who have suffered this same problem. As female athletes continue to become more competitive and aggressive, ACL damage continues to rise.
The most common knee injury in sports is damage to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) through tears or sprains. “They occur in high demand sports that involve planting and cutting, jumping with a poor landing, and stopping immediately or changing directions” (University of Colorado Hospital). The ACL is a ligament that runs diagonally in the middle of the knee and found at the front of the patellar bone. Its function involves controlling the back and forth motion of the knee, preventing the tibia from sliding out in front of the femur, and providing rational stability to the knee. Interestingly, women are more prone to ACL injuries than men. The occurrence is four to six times greater in female athletes.
It can mean losing the chance to get that scholarship for young athletes, and it can also mean the end of those million dollar paychecks for those who have gone professional. A torn ACL can result in numerous surgeries, months of vigorous exercise and rehabilitation, and a sufficient amount of pain. It requires complete patience, as pushing too hard can result in further, more painful injuries. Even after all that, an athlete is not guaranteed he or she will ever be able to play sports again. The anterior cruciate ligament is the reason that the knee only has one pattern of movement.
Lees, A., & Nolan, L. (1998). The biomechanics of soccer: A review. Journal of Sports Sciences, 16(3), 211-234.
Since football’s inception, it has been considered a manly sport. Young boys have been encouraged by their parents to participate in the game. For many boys, it is considered a rite of passage. However, football is a dangerous sport. A study conducted by the Center for Injury Research and Policy found, “an estimated 5.25 million football-related injuries among children and adolescents between 6 and 17 years of age were treated in U.S. emergency departments between 1990 and 2007. The annual number of football-related injuries increased 27 percent during the 18-year study period, jumping from 274,094 in 1990 to 346,772 in 2007” (Nation 201). These reported injuries include sprains and strains, broken bones, cracked ribs, torn ligaments, and concussions. A concussion usually happens when a player takes a hard hit to the head or is knocked unconscious on the playing field, and if not diagnosed and treated quickly, a concussion can result in death.
Amanda was in her sophomore year of soccer season when she heard the pop of her knee that cut her season short. The next thing she knew she was at the doctor’s who told her she had an ACL tear, and wasn’t sure if she could play again. From there it was boiled down to two options. One to re-strengthen her knee through rehabilitation, physical therapy and bracing, or to undergo an ACL reconstruction surgery. Although it is costly and some may consider it frivolous, those who have encountered ACL tears should receive the reconstruction surgery instead of attending rehabilitation for the damage to their knee, because it dramatically lessens the chances of meniscal injuries and osteoarthritis occurring later and allows the patient to return back to their sport or physical activity with better knee mobility and less pain in a timely manner.
A 16-year-old, female high school soccer player, Lindsey Robinson, tore her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) during a soccer game. Interestingly, she was not the only one in her team who injured her ACL, but several of her teammates have torn the same ligament as well during the soccer season. Lephart (2002) found that women involved in physical activity are more susceptible to acquiring the ACL injuries than men who are involved in the same physical activity (as cited in Ogden, 2002). According to “ACL Injury Prevention” (2004), the numbers of female ACL ruptures have increased for the past ten years. Over 1.4 million women have suffered from the ACL rupture, which is twice the rate of the previous decade.
High school football players sustain a major proportion of season injuries. A major part of these regions are due to ligament sprains, targeted stretching exercises may be beneficial. The most injured players were those with the position of running back and linebackers. In the 2005-2006 season there were more than half a million injuries nationally of high school football players. This data was collected from over 100 high school football teams.
The problems and injuries that come with playing football have been obvious since the beginning, and to this day are still being discovered and researched in hopes of finding solutions so that the sport is not so dangerous. Malcolm Gla...
To summarize, football is a dangerous sport that can cause multiple serious injuries like brain damage, concussions, fractures and or death. The majority of people still think football is a menace, especially for teens that are still growing and developing. Equally important, there are analysis and programs indicate a number of injuries between high school exposures and collegiate football exposures and trying to find safer ways to play. Then again, there are doctors, trainers, and N.F.L players that are recommending new ideas to create a safer game for everyone to play without risking injuries as
Soccer is the most popular and fast growing sport worldwide. Comparable to many other sports, soccer carries an intrinsic risk of injuries, including brain injuries and concussion. Also, soccer is unique in the use of heading, and heading a soccer ball is the heart of soccer world. While sports such as American football, ice hockey, and boxing get most of the attention when it comes to brain damage, in which repeated loss of consciousness often occur; that could lead to serious injuries such as, cognitive dysfunction, traumatic brain injury, and many others. In the same way, Soccer is an intense physical sport in which head is as important as the use of the foot. But since, researchers has not linked heading to concussions, players, coaches,
“10% of all college sports players sustain brain injuries.” (CFAF). Many athletes have been absent from sport events and games do to injuries. Injuries are common in any type of organized sport. The injuries that athletes get are mainly from not exercising correctly, not doing the proper stretches, and by not keeping enough fluids in the body. The most common injuries are ankle twist, pulled muscles, concussions, broken bones, and fractures. The easiest way to prevent these type of injuries from happening is to make sure you have the proper training and stretching. Poor training methods, inadequate warm-up, and lack of conditioning are a few of the causes of sports injuries. “Injuries can be caused by a combination of those things without necessarily being the only reasons,” (Apostolos Theophilou). Injuries can also be caused by not using the proper technique in the sport, or by doing the proper stretching techniques. Most athletes hardly ever stretch before a game or event. Stretching is the main reason why athletes are injured so often. Whenever you don’t stretch, the muscles in the body are very tight and can be pulled easily or may cause very painful cramping.
The amazing game of soccer is played on every continent, and is the world’s most popular sport. It is proven to be one of the number one sports to be played and watched. Because its fans and players are so dedicated, the sport continues to grow. Requiring only a ball and open space, the activity is available to anyone, whether rich or poor, male or female, athletic or not. Over the years, soccer has won the hearts of many because of its unique history, many benefits, and notable achievements.