Do you know what makes Ronaldo, Messi, Beckham, Ronaldinho, Maradona the ultimate legends? Yes, you got it right! It’s the glorious game of football. But, the game of football is not always hunky-dory. It has its own share of leg injuries and foot injuries for which one needs to be prepared. So, before you step out to play your favorite sport, ensure that you have a better idea about the sports injuries related to football and the possible treatments.
1. Ankle Sprains:
The most common among foot sprain is an ankle sprain, which can be mild or severe, but athletes must ensure that it’s tended to as soon as possible.
2. ACL Injuries:
As the Anterior Cruciate Ligament is one of the four ligaments that keep your knee stable, twisting the knee can cause this ligament to tear or get damaged.
3. Achilles Tendonitis:
A common among foot pain, Achilles Tendonitis can cause severe pain and inflammation for deterioration of the Achilles tendon at the back of an ankle.
4. Plantar Fasciitis:
Plantar fasciitis is diagnosed in those football players who overuse their feet wrongly, wherein incessant pressure is created to the feet due to long stretches of running. However, there are some other causes that contribute to the development of the plantar fasciitis also.
5. Hamstring Injury:
When an athlete experiences a sudden shooting pain at the back of their thigh while running or kicking the ball, then it’s a hamstring injury.
6. Muscle Pull:
A muscle pull is very frequent among players when they experience pain in their quadriceps or hamstring muscle.
Tibial stress syndrome: Leg injuries caused in the front of the lower leg is a tibial stress syndrome. If not treated properly, this foot sprain also known as shin splints can cause serious complications.
7. MCL Injuries:
Damage to the medial collateral ligament in the knee is another foot pain that is caused when the knee is hurt from the sides.
8. Metatarsal Stress Fracture:
A metatarsal stress fracture is one of the foot injuries where one of the bones on your foot gets damaged severely.
9. Shoulder Dislocation:
Football players very often take a blow to the shoulder that can cause the acromioclavicular joint to dislocate.
POSSIBLE TREATMENTS
R.I.C.E Therapy
Considered to be one of the oldest treatment for sports injuries, RICE refers to resting the injured area, icing the area, applying compression to reduce pain, and lastly, elevating the area to prevent the build-up of edema.
Physical Therapy
When players suffer from ligament tear or go through a surgery, getting back the body strength and flexibility, and coming back to form requires extensive physical therapy.
Medication
Pain caused due to a football injury can be reduced with the help of medication. Over-the-counter or prescription drugs can be availed from a medical store. But, it’s always better to take the suggestions and considerations of a medical practitioner first. Some things are inevitable, and football injuries are one of them. You should be aware that it’s going to happen, but you should be smart enough to not let these injuries become an excuse for you to miss a game. Be it sports injuries, foot injuries, leg injuries, foot pain or any kind of foot sprain, you can get back into the game by tending to your injuries.
Custom Made Orthotics
Custom-made, flexible orthotics appear to have a positive effect on the lower body half injury profile of college football players. The orthotics or custom insoles have been shown to survive being worn throughout the college football season. Future studies are needed to elucidate the nature and absolute magnitude of the positive effect on injury rate and to determine which player positions and which individual players will benefit most from the use of these orthotics.
