It doesn’t matter if you visit the gym a few times a week or are a professional athlete, there is always the risk of getting injured. In most cases, when injuries happen it is hardly possible to detect exactly what you have tweaked without contacting a sports injury specialist. You are especially at risk of getting injured if you have not been regularly exercising, do not warm up properly before sports activities or are involved in contact sports. The recent study of sports injury has identified the most common injuries that people are exposed to.  

Knee injuries 

Most sports injuries involve the lower body, more specifically knee injuries. This problem can be caused by falling onto the knees, which in turn can lead to swelling. This causes a muscle imbalance of the two main muscles that assist in proper tracking of the kneecap in the groove. As sports injury specialists say, rest and ice can help with knee pain or swelling. If knee pain continues for more than a week, it is advised to get in contact with a sports injury clinic. These specialists could help with more aggressive strengthening and stretching. In addition, you may need to use taping or bracing techniques to help with proper tracking. 

Hamstring injuries

Hamstring muscles can be tight and are subject to a strain, or a pulled muscle. The cause of a hamstring strain can be a lack of stretching or simply poor stretching. Generally, when a hamstring is torn, a person would experience bruising in the back of the thigh or the knee. The most common early treatment for this type of injury is ice and rest. This should be followed by accurate stretching and strengthening in order to prevent further injury. If the pain continues for more than two weeks, it is advised to consult a sports injury doctor, who will do an ultrasound or another method to encourage healing of the pulled muscle. 

Shoulder injuries 

A large number of sports injuries consist of shoulder injuries. These could be dislocations, strains on muscles, sprains of ligaments or misalignment.  As most sport injuries specialists say, the shoulder is the weakest joint in our body and is always subject to a great deal of force during sports activities. These injuries normally happen due to a lack of flexibility, stabilization and/or strength. As with the majority of other sports injuries, rest and ice are the first treatment to help with pain relief. Any pain continuing for more than a week without relief should be evaluated by a physical therapist available in any sports injury clinic.   

Groin Strain 

Groin muscles start from the upper-inner thigh right above the knee. These muscles pull the legs together and groin injuries are usually caused by quick side-to-side movements or lack of flexibility. If a person has pulled the groin muscles, he/she would experience difficulties with lateral movements as well as bruising in the groin or inner thigh. 

As part of this injury treatment, it is advised to have proper rest for the first three days. The next step would be using heat for 15 to 20 minutes periodically, which should be also accompanied by gentle stretching. 

You might have already noticed that the first treatment for the aforementioned injuries is the use of ice, rest and compression. However, keep in mind that this treatment method is applicable only to mild sports injuries. The aforementioned method can assist in preventing additional pain and bruising in the early days after the injury and reduce swelling. 

Sports injury doctors say that you should seek urgent care if you experience severe swelling and pain, instability, visible lumps, bumps or other deformations. Furthermore, if you do not feel any pain relief for more than a week, you should immediately contact a sports injury clinic in order to make an appointment with a doctor.