Latest News / Injury Prevention & Treatment
About Injury Prevention
Sport and exercise are an effective way to keep fit, lose weight or prevent weight gain and complements a healthy eating regime and lifestyle. Unfortunately sport and exercise can also cause injuries. Not all injuries are avoidable, but there are certain steps that can be taken to prevent injuries in the first place, or to decrease the likelihood of something minor becoming a serious on-going problem.
The most common sporting activities leading to some sort of hospitalisation include: Australian football, basketball, soccer, netball, rugby, and cycling.
Once an injury has occurred, you are exposed to an increased risk of suffering from re-injury in the long term. To get the most out of your activity and prevent or reduce injury, it is important
Preventing & Treating Injuries
BEFORE YOU START
Before you even arrive at the sporting ground, make sure you are;
* Hydrated. Don’t wait until you are thirsty and in hotter weather, remember to drink more to compensate for your body working harder to cool down.
* Wearing appropriate gear. If you are playing a contact sport, do you have the right padding and protection? If you are a runner do you have proper running shoes that have been fitted to your specific gait? Do you have a new helmet that has never been in a crash if you are a cyclist?
WARMING UP & COOLING DOWN
Warming up and cooling down correctly can assist in the prevention of injuries.
Depending on the activity a warm-up should be between 5—15 minutes long and consist of light aerobic exercise such as cycling, jogging and be followed by some light stretches.
A cool down should be a gentler version of the warm-up, the more intense the workout, the longer the warm down. It helps bring your heart rate and body temperature down as well as preventing a build-up of lactic acid which can cause delayed onset muscles soreness (DOMS).
KNOWING YOUR LIMITS
Whether you have been sedentary for years and are just taking up exercise again, are coming back from an injury or illness, or are usually a casual participant in a weekly activity and looking to increase the intensity, it is important to do it in a regulated and planned way. A 5km runner would not expect to be able to run a marathon without months of training; the same applies to all sport. There is a rule of thumb that exercise should be increased by no more than 10% per week. For exercises that are measurable by distance this is easy to gauge; for other sports you need to take a sensible approach. If you do not take a sensible approach you run the risk of having an overuse injury. Most importantly, listen to your body, as there is a difference between training hard and training too hard.
IMMEDIATE INJURY TREATMENT
If you suffer an injury such as a sprain or a pull, you should stop immediately and apply the principles of R.I.C.E
R—rest. To prevent further injury
I—ice. Ice the area to reduce bruising & bleeding
C—compress. Limits swelling & supports the area
E—elevate. Uses gravity to reduce swelling
If you would like to have the entire leaflet as a soft or some hardcopy for distribution within your sporting team, school or club, please email marketing@bundyrad.com.au
This leaflet is not and should not be considered as medical advice. It is recommended to speak to your Doctor before undertaking any new exercise regime