How To Take The Best Care Of Your Knee Injuries During Sports
For people who engage in sporting activities regularly, knee injuries usually occur as a result of poor body mechanics, overuse, and osteoarthritis. During sports, knee joints start, stop, and pivot at fast speeds. This causes strain on the ligaments, bones, and cartilage in the knees. This is why knees often experience injuries.
Knee injuries occur due to excess body weight, inadequate warm-ups, and poor physical exercise. All of these can result in pain and injury. If not treated well, knee injuries can progress, making it hard for a person to walk or engage in sporting activities difficult.
Common Knee Injuries
Athletes who injure their knees frequently or experience pain regularly should consult an orthopedic specialist in a credible facility, like Noyes Knee Institute, for treatment. Also, if your knees are swollen, reddened, weak and wobbly, or appear deformed, you need to seek medical care.
You also need to see a doctor if your knees are tender to touch or aren’t able to bear your weight. These symptoms may be signs of overstretched or ruptured connective tissues, a patellar fracture, dislocated knee cap, or inflamed fluid-filled sacs.
In some instances, the symptoms may be indications of a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) or a torn meniscus, which is the cartilage padding that’s found between the shin bone and the thigh bone.
Taking Best Care Of Knee Injuries During Sports
If you get a knee injury during a sporting event, there are several things you can do to take care of the injury before seeing a doctor. On most occasions, minor knee injuries respond well to pain relievers, which are available over the counter. Rubbing creams that contain numbing agents can also relieve the pain associated with knee injuries.
In addition to over-the-counter pain relievers and creams, taking the following self-care measures can go a long way in giving knee injuries the best care:
- Rest The Knee
When you injure your knee, taking a break from sporting activities can speed up the recovery process since you’ll be preventing repetitive strain on the knee. Hence, by taking time to rest, you’ll keep the damage from spreading further and give the knee injury time to heal.
For a minor injury, resting for a day or two is sufficient to get you back in shape. If your knee damage is severe, you’ll need to rest a bit longer before the injury recovers.
- Apply Ice
When it comes to reducing inflammation and pain, cold therapy works well. When your knee gets injured during a sporting event, consider getting a bag of frozen ice cubes and cover the whole knee with it. To protect your skin, you may also wrap the ice pack in a thin towel before placing it on the knee.
Although ice is a safe and highly effective way to manage knee injuries in the short term, it’s not advisable to use the ice for more than 20 minutes at a go. Doing so can cause damage to the skin and nerves.
- Use The Heat Therapy
Placing a hot water bottle or a heat pack on an injured knee can provide you with temporary pain relief. If you get a knee injury during sports, consider placing a heat pack on the painful area to manage the pain before you’re able to get treatment.
- Wrap A Compression Bandage
If you have a severe knee injury, your tissues may get damaged or a knee misalignment may occur. Wrapping a compression bandage around the injured knee can keep fluid from building up in the damaged tissue and maintain knee stability. It can also help in keeping the knee aligned.
If you decide to wrap a compression bandage around your knee, opt for a breathable, lightweight, and self-adhesive bandage. Wrap it tight enough to support the knee while ensuring that it doesn’t interfere with blood circulation.
- Keep The Knee Raised
The last simple but effective way to take the best care of knee injuries during sports is elevating the injured knee. The easiest way to do this is to prop the injured leg on pillows or to sit on a recliner. Keeping the leg raised may help reduce swelling.
Final Thoughts
The knees are joints that are most susceptible to injuries, particularly in people who frequently engage in sports. If you want to continue engaging in sports, losing weight is a great way to reduce pressure on the knees and consequently prevent injuries.
You should also build endurance in leg muscles, work out before getting into a game, and vary sporting routines. Additionally, using proper sporting equipment and exercising regularly may reduce your chances of getting knee injuries.
