Preventing Sports Injuries

Engaging in sports and physical activities are an excellent way to stay active and for your overall health. However, there is a risk you may sustain sports-related injuries, which may happen due to acute trauma or chronic overuse. Injuries that happen due to repetitive motions, improper techniques or insufficient preparation can be minimized.

Some common sports injuries experienced by athletes or hobbyist involve doing a repetitive motion, such as shoulder injuries like rotator cuff injuries and impingement, elbow injuries like Tennis or Golfer's Elbow, and knee injuries like Runner's knee and torn ligaments. 

Risk Factors for Sports Injuries

Anyone can sustain a sports injury, but there are factors that may increase your risk of getting injured.

These risk factors include:

• Not using the correct exercise techniques
• Training too often or for too long
• Increasing the intensity of your physical activity too quickly
• Running or jumping on hard surfaces
• Wearing shoes that do not have the right support
• Not wearing the right equipment
• Having had a prior injury

Here are some ways you can reduce your risk of sustaining a sports injury:

1. Warm-up and cool-down
   Thoroughly warming up your body is important to prepare your body for physical exertion. It helps to increase blood flow, loosen your joints, and elevate muscle temperatures to help reduce the risk of strains and tears. After exercising, you are recommended to cool down with light aerobic movements and static stretching to help the body recover and maintain flexibility.
    
2. Strengthen your core
   Having a strong core helps improve your balance, stability and athletic performance. Engage in core exercises that target your abdomen, back and pelvic muscles, such as planks and dead bugs.
    
3. Focus on proper technique
   Reduce strain on joints and muscles by learning and consistently using the correct form and technique for your sport. This helps maintain proper alignment, balance, and efficient movement. A qualified sports trainer or instructor will help guide you on proper techniques to have during your activities.
    
4. Gradually increase intensity
   Pushing your body too hard to quickly is one of the fastest ways to get injured. Slowly increase your training load week by week to give your body enough time to adapt and strengthen, lowering your chances of getting injured. If you are returning to a sport after a break, ease into it with lower intensity and shorter durations to build up your capacity once again.
    
5. Stay hydrated and eat well
   Proper nutrition and hydration will help fuel your performance and support recovery. Being dehydrated may impair coordination and concentration, increasing your risk of getting injured.
    

Staying in the Game: Overcoming Shoulder and Elbow Setbacks for Active Individuals

Shoulder and elbow joints enable complex movements but are prone to injury. Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Ruben Manohara shares more about common shoulder and elbow injuries, their causes and proper management to prevent long-term complications.

Read the story

Understanding Bone & Joint Care: Your Guide to Diagnosis, Treatment, and Support

Move well. Feel well. Caring together for your bones and joints means taking care of your range of movements and the quality of life you want. From exercise and nutrition, to attending to injuries and long- and short-term conditions, moving well can influence your daily routines, work and play.

Empowering Yourself with Knowledge

This resource provides information about cancer, including:

• Importance of Bone & Joint Care: Understand the importance of maintaining your bone and joint health.
• Common Orthopedic Conditions: Learn about the different types of common orthopedic conditions and their characteristics.
• Key Risk Factors: Explore various modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors that may leave you susceptible to orthopedic conditions.
• Ways to Improve Bone & Joint Care: Learn about lifestyle factors and preventive measures to minimize your risk of orthopedic conditions.

What is Bone & Joint Care?

Bone and joint care focuses on maintaining the health and function of your musculoskeletal system, which includes bones, joints, muscles, tendons, ligaments, and cartilage. It involves preventing, diagnosing, and treating conditions that affect these structures, such as osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, fractures, sprains, and strains. Good bone and joint health is essential for mobility, independence, and overall quality of life.

Importance of Bone & Joint Care

• Mobility & independence: Healthy bones and joints allow you to move freely and perform daily activities without pain or limitations.
• Pain prevention: Bone and joint problems can cause chronic pain that affects your ability to work, sleep, and enjoy life.

What Causes Orthopedic Conditions?

Heart disease is caused by a complex interplay of factors, including:

• Non-Modifiable Factors: Age, gender, ethnicity family history, and inherited genetic mutations.
• Modifiable Factors:
  • Lifestyle: Diet, occupation, sports and physical activities, and poor posture.
  • Health: Obesity, Prior injuries

Symptoms of Orthopedic Conditions

Symptoms of orthopedic conditions may vary depending on the type of orthopedic conditions. However, some general signs and symptoms include:

• Pain in the affected segment of the bone or joint
• Swelling and Redness
• Joint stiffness
• Limited range of movement
• Numbness, tingling or weakness

Important Note: These symptoms may also be indicative of other health conditions. Speak to our Specialists today for proper evaluation and diagnosis.

Common Orthopedic Conditions in Singapore

• Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease that causes the breakdown of cartilage, the smooth tissue that cushions the ends of bones in joints.
• Fractures happen when there is a break in a bone, which can be caused by trauma or osteoporosis.
• Sprains & Strains, are stretches or tears of a ligament (sprain) and stretches or tears of a muscle or tendon (strain).
• Back Pain can be caused by various factors, including muscle strains, ligament sprains, disc herniation, and spinal stenosis.
• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome happen when the median nerve, which runs through the wrist, is compressed.
• Scoliosis is a sideways curvature of the spine that typically develops during adolescence.

Orthopedic Treatment Goals

• Relieve pain to reduce discomfort and improve daily functioning
• Restore and maintain function to help patients return to normal activities
• Slow disease progression, especially in chronic conditions

Improving Bone & Joint Health

Here are some helpful ways to improve your bone & joint health:

• Eat a heart-healthy diet with an emphasis on calcium-rich food such as dairy-products and leafy green vegetables.
• Get enough vitamin D which is essential for calcium absorption. You can do so by getting sufficient sunlight or from fortified foods and supplements.
• Engage in regular physical activities by doing weight-bearing exercises such as jogging or stair climbing, muscle-strengthening exercises which build muscle mass and flexibility exercises such as yoga and stretching.
• Practice good posture, avoid slouching and maintain proper posture while sitting and standing.
• Manage existing medical conditions such as arthritis and osteoporosis through medication and lifestyle changes.