Unit 9: Sports Medicine

Introduction

Sports medicine is that branch of medicine that deals with physical fitness, treatment and prevention of injuries related to sports and exercise. Sports medicine represents the efforts of medical science and art theoretically and practically to analyze the influence of the movement, training and sports as well as hyper or hypo kinesea i.e., on healthy, sick and handicapped human beings of all age group. The findings​​ are useful for preventive, therapeutic and rehabilitative purposes. Sports medicine is, in fact, the science of remaining healthy, of preventing premature strain on the system, and of providing training which is designed to benefit the organ’s functions and which will therefore contribute towards the longing life. Sports medicine is the area which creates a positive environment,​​ so​​ an athlete converts his all genetic potentialities into phenotypic​​ realities.

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Aims of Sports Medicine

Main aims of sports medicine are as follows:

(1)​​ To diagnose and detect the cause of injury so that knee recovery from sports injury should be done.

(2)​​ To promote preventive aspects in sports, this reduces the injuries.

(3)​​ To cure and treat sports injury i.e., fast recovery of sports injury.

(4)​​ To provide rehabilitation (medical and health services) to sportspersons.

(5)​​ To guide and counselling the injured player, thus it promotes psychological behaviour.

Scope of Sports Medicine

There are number of areas which provide wide scope to sports medicine:

(1)​​ Sports medicine helps the fitness instructor to reduce injuries and promote health.

(2)​​ It is very helpful for players as it prevents them to manage injuries.

(3)​​ Knowledge of sports medicine is helpful for trainer as it guides him the correct exercise.

(4)​​ Sport medicine: It guides the coach to follow the correct and good training method to prevent and overcoming the injuries of players.   

(5)​​ Sports medicine also suits to the fitness instructor to reduce injuries and promote health.

Very Short​​ & Short​​ Answer Type Questions (1​​ & 3​​ Marks)

Q1. Define sports medicine.

Ans.​​ Sports medicine is a branch of healthcare. It deals with the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of​​ injuries related to participation in sports and / or exercise.

Q2. What are some aims of sports medicine?

Ans.​​ 1. Making aware of the injuries.

2.​​ Concentrate on the cause of the injury. ​​​​ 

3.​​ Provision of medical help immediately

4.​​ Injuries the player might suffer.

Q3. what are acute injuries?

Ans.​​ Acute Injuries are the injuries that occur due to sudden trauma to the tissue. The symptoms of acute​​ injuries present themselves almost immediately. For example sprains, fracture etc.

Q4. What is sprain?

Ans.​​ A sprain is sudden stretching of this ligaments of a joint and is associated with pain and usually discoloration which appears early from hemorrhage into the tissues. The ligaments sometimes become tense and get injured was the weak joints and bones. Sprain may occur at joints like knee, ankle, elbow joints etc.

Q5. What is contusion?

Ans.​​ A direct hit or blow anywhere on the body, causing bleeding from ruptured small capillaries below the skin, without any breaking of skin is called contusion. In such cases, the outer skin remains unbroken and there is slight bleeding into muscular​​ tissues. Contusion may take place in the sports like cricket, hockey, gymnastic and polo etc.

Q6. What is abrasion?

Ans.​​ It is not a deep injury of skin or mucous membranes due to scrapping or rubbing. The cause of this injury may be due to fall on a hard rough surface. This type of injury may not be serious but can be serious if some foreign material like small stone or a stick gets struck in it. Abrasion takes place in sports like cricket, hockey, athletics and combating zanies etc.

Q7. What do you mean by RICER?

Ans.​​ RICER is one of the standard treatment procedures for sports injuries, It stands for Rest, lce,​​ Compression, Elevation and Referral.

Q7. What is shoulder dislocation?

Ans.​​ Shoulder dislocation is caused by blow to shoulder often in contact sports such as karate, judo or rugby. It may also be caused by forcing arm outwards and away from the body. The shoulder is very painful at the time of dislocation, looks square and cannot be moved outwards from the body. Nerves around shoulder can also be damaged in rare cases.

Q8. What is sprain? Write about the treatment of sprain.

Ans.​​ A sprain is a sudden stretching of the ligaments of a joint and is associated with pain and usually discoloration, which appears early from hemorrhage into the tissues. The ligaments sometimes become tense and get injured near the weak joints and bones. Sprain may occur joints like knee, ankle, elbow joints etc. The sprain may be classified into the following:

(a)​​ Mild Sprain:​​ In this type of sprain there is slight tearing of some of the ligament fibres and there is no loss of function of joint.

(b)​​ Moderate Sprain:​​ In this type of sprain there is some rupture of ligaments and there is some loss of function.

(c)​​ Severe Sprain:​​ In this type of sprain there is total rapture of ligament and they are also separated from bone and total loss of any movement.

Long Answer Type Questions (5 Marks)

Q1. What are the aims​​ and​​ objectives​​ of sports medicine?

Ans.​​ 1.​​ Players have no idea of what kind on injuries they might suffer while playing the game. The physicians and trainers are experienced people. They know well what kind of injuries the players may be subjected to different kinds of injuries occurred​​ in different kind of games.

They must make the athlete and sports persons aware of it. They must also test the physical traits, psychology and equipment of the individual athletes. The medical sports of the sports persons must be handed over to them though the sports medical officer or physician.

2.​​ It is​​ to concentrate on the causes of injury. There are always some reasons behind the injuries sportsmen suffer. There reasons may be physical, psychological or medical. Sports persons must be made aware of the kind of injuries they might suffer so that while playing they may take necessary precautions. Injuries to sports persons may be caused by lack of skill or technique in the player, insufficient warm up, lack of physical skills, environmental and psychological factors.

3.​​ If a player gets injured during the games, the player or his trainer must inform the physician so that adequate medical help may be provided immediately. Different​​ methods and equipment of treatment and rehabilitation such as hydrotherapy, infra-red rays, thermal treatment electrotherapy, physiotherapy etc. must be readily available.

4.​​ The player must be told in advance what kind of injuries he might suffer. He should also be told necessary precautions so that he may protect himself from physical injury during the play, watch or practice Knowledge of protective measures will keep the players safe and sound.

Q2. What is scope of sports medicine?

Ans.​​ Sports medicine has multiple uses in the field of physical education and sports. On the basis of case studies and researches conducted in sports medicine several problems of sports persons and athletes are solved. It is well high impossible to raise the level of an athlete’s performance to a very high level without profound knowledge of sports medicine. This is why several theoretical as well as practical aspects of sports medicine have been included in the post graduate curriculum. Facilities, equipment and laboratories of sports medicine exist in the national institute of sports, Patiala and Laxmi Bai Institute of Physical Education, Gwalior. There facilities are being extended by and by to different universities so that true evaluation of an athlete’s body and equipment and potential may be done and proper care and guidance may be provided for his maximum development.

Following are the various areas of sports medicine:

1.​​ Human anatomy and physiology

2.​​ Athlete nutrition.

3.​​ Sports and First Aid

4.​​ Prevention of accidents in sports.

5.​​ Sports injury Rehabilitation

6.​​ New methods of detecting doping

7.​​ Fitness of games and sports.

8.​​ Methods of prediction of sports talent

9.​​ Female and sports

10.​​ Sports and society.

Q3. What is bone dislocation? Write the treatment of bone dislocation.

Ans.​​ 1.​​ Shoulder dislocation:​​ Shoulder dislocation is caused by blow to shoulder often in contact sports such as karate, judo or rugby. It may also be caused by forcing arm outwards and away from the body. The shoulder is very painful at the time of dislocation looks square and cannot be moved outwards from the body. Nerves around shoulder can also be damaged in rare cases.

2.​​ Shoulder separation:​​ Shoulder separation or acromio clanicular joint separation is one thing. It is caused by direct blow to shoulder such as falling onto shoulder from​​ judo, kabbadi, boxing etc. These is a lot of pain and swelling at the end of collarbone. End of collarbone may be swollen and end of bone may be seen out of position.

3.​​ Radio humeral Joint Injury:​​ Radio humeral joint injury is caused due to damage either to the ligaments around the outside of the joint or the shiny surface of the joint itself. There is pain felt over the outer side of the joint over the bony knob as in tennis elbow. It hurts to fully twist the lower arm, fully bend or straighten it. It is usually caused by twisting the arm downwards such as, during​​ a​​ forearm tennis or badminton shot. It is also caused by throw round-arm.

4.​​ Finger dislocation:​​ Finger is usually dislocated by a blow to the front of the finger, e.g. catching a cricket ball or baseball. The finger immediately looks deformed because the bones at one of the joints are dislocated. The joint is very painful initially.

5.​​ Knee Cap Dislocation:​​ Dislocated knee cap is caused either by twist on almost straight knee or by blow to knee, e.g. a kick. Knee cap is suddenly dislocated​​ sideways​​ common in ‘double jointed’ girls.

Q4. What is fracture? What are the type of fracture?

Ans.​​ Bone injuries are usually caused by a direct blow to the bone either in a fall or a kick or a similar injury. There are many bones in our body. They all are attached to one or the other to make the skeletal. Each and every bone is important to our body. Each bone has its own movements and function. Some bones are smaller but some are big. Bones may be injured in one way or the other. Some of the bone injuries of the body are discussed here.

1.​​ Fracture of a collarbone:​​ Fractured collarbone is caused by direct blow to the collarbone or by blow to the shoulder by some external body. There are some sports where chances of bone injuries are more, i.e., rugby, karate, judo or motorcycling. There is a lot of pain felt over the bone itself and the ends of the bone may be clearly visible under the skin.

2.​​ Fracture of a radius bone:​​ When radius bone is fractured, it breaks one of the bones in the forearm which makes up part of the wrist joint. This is sometimes also called colles fracture. It usually occurs in a fall on overstretched wrist​​ e.g.​​ skating​​ on road or ice skating. It is common in almost all sports. After a few hours of injury one feels pain on all movements of the wrist with swelling and bruising.

3.​​ Scaphoid Fracture:​​ Scaphoid fracture is a very similar mechanism of injury to radius fracture caused by a fall on outstretched hand. There is pain in “snuff​​ box” depression on outer side of wrist. There may be swelling although not always. Pushing of wrist backwards is especially painful. It hurts when it moves.

Q5. What is the impact of surface on the athlete/players?

Ans.​​ The surfaces on which athletes run or play a large role in determining how well they perform and how likely they are to get injured. To understand why this is so, it’s important to realise that running is essentially a series of collisions between your body and the ground. There are different kinds of surfaces on which we play sports, e.g. natural grass, wooden flooring, synthetic surface for sport and recreational usage. One of the important aspects of sport surfaces is to improve athletic performance it has been suffered that the main feature of a sport surface that can affect the athletic performance is to store and return energy have argued that if some of the energy that an athlete requires far each step. Slide jump, landing etc. can be reused, through energy returns from the surface. In other words, one can achieve a given physical activity by using less energy and, there continue or activity during a longer period. The most important characteristic of a sport surface which may be related to performance is to give the maximum output by using less energy. Playing surfaces also play an important role to avoid sports injuries as when the friction is optimum and the hardness of the surface is according to the game the chances to get injured is much less. Playing surface also increase the life of ankles and knees by providing proper shock absorber between​​ the body and surface of playing.

Q6. Discuss five techniques used to avoid sports injuries.

Ans.​​ One of the important objectives of sports medicine is preventing injuries. It also prevents other​​ physical, mental, social and financial harm accompanying sports injuries. General techniques that can​​ prevent sports injuries are:​​ 

(a) A​​ well-structured​​ warm-up and cool-down is necessary to increase blood​​ and nutrient flow and concentration. Also it helps in relaxation, improved flexibility and recovery of​​ muscles. Planning a Session Careful planning of training and rehabilitation sessions allows gradual​​ specific adaptations. It reduces the damage to the tissues as a result of training.

(b) The use of protective equipment like proper footwear, helmets, goggles,​​ gum shield, shin pads and gloves prevents many sports injuries.​​ 

(c)​​ Some​​ form of mental skills training and practice could reduce injuries by​​ reducing anxiety and improving concentration.

(d)​​ All​​ performers are aware of and adhere to the rules and laws of the​​ particular sport, than injuries can be reduced to great extent.

Q7. Distinguish between natural surface and artificial surface in sports and how they impact the​​ performance of athletes.

Ans.​​ There are two types of surfaces used in any indoor or outdoor games. These are natural and​​ artificial​​ surfaces. Natural surfaces are​​ the surfaces that are prepared through proper combination of​​ natural elements like soil and grass. On the other hand, artificial surfaces are more like carpets which​​ are made from artificial components like rubber, synthetic fiber etc.

These surfaces impact performance of athletes differently. In many contact games like football, cricket,​​ running and Kabaddi natural surfaces are preferred because they provide more familiarity, grip and​​ avoid severe injuries. On the other hand, artificial surfaces provide more opportunities for practice​​ because their use need not be stopped for maintenance. Also, with innovation in technology, artificial​​ surfaces are becoming more user friendly. Risks of injuries are reducing in artificial surfaces also​​ nowadays.

Q8. What are the causes of sports injuries?

Ans.​​ To effectively diagnose, rehabilitate and ultimately prevent subsequent injuries, a sport therapist

(a) Anatomical Factors:​​ These are related to make up of the body. Leg length differences​​ cause​​ injuries to ankle, hip and back.

(b) Age related causes:​​ As the body ages, it changes. It is less able to produce force, recovers slower and​​ soft tissues lose the ability to stretch. Therefore it is more prone to injury.

(c) Training related causes:​​ Excessive repetitive loading of the tissues is needed for successive​​ adaptation. However without suitable recovery, tissues never have the chance to adapt and can fail.

(d) Equipment selection factors:​​ These are related to the suitability of equipment. An instance is​​ incorrect footwear, which will not protect the foot and ankle adequately. It also will not distribute forces​​ effectively. Thus it increases the risk of injury.

(e) Impact and contact causes:​​ Impact or contact can be with objects, surfaces or other people.​​ These injuries are common in contact sports like football, rugby, hockey etc. Also they are common in​​ more dangerous sports like motor racing, boxing and skiing.