What Are Common Sports Injuries?
Our experienced NYC orthopedic sports medicine surgeons know what to do
Sports injuries cover a wide range. Sometimes, you may be dealing with a serious knee injury. Other times, your spine or hip may be in pain because of an athletic injury. Whatever the circumstances, you need an experienced, sports medicine doctor who can diagnose exactly what’s wrong. That way, you can get the medical care you need right away.
You can count on our New York sports medicine surgeons at Island Musculoskeletal Care (IMC Bone Doc). We know what to do because we’ve been doing this work for decades. Our doctors have more than 100 years of combined medical experience dealing with sports medicine related injuries. That’s why injured athletes throughout New York City and Long Island rely on us when they need us most.
What type of sports injury do you have?
Our doctors deal with many different types of sports injuries. Information about some of the most common – and most serious – sports injuries can be found below. It is also important to remember that every injury is unique. That’s why it’s important to have a doctor properly diagnose you as soon as possible.
Our experienced, New York orthopedic surgeons have the latest, state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment. Each one of our offices has an MRI machine. That way, we can figure out what’s wrong with you right away.
Best of all, our medical practice is in-network. That means we accept most forms of medical insurance and you may not have to pay for any of your medical expenses. Our staff members can research this information for you. We know how the system works and how to deal with insurance companies.
- What is a torn ACL?
- What is a torn MCL?
- What is tennis elbow?
- What is a torn meniscus?
- What is a torn rotator cuff?
- What is a hip fracture?
- What is a dislocated knee?
- What is runner’s knee?
- What are shin splints?
- What is a back sprain?
Learn more about what we can do for you. Schedule an appointment with one of our board-certified, fellowship-trained orthopedic sports doctors. Contact IMC Bone Doc online or call us. Many of our surgeons have immediate appointments available the same day at one of our seven New York locations.
Best of all, you may be able to receive all your medical care in the same, convenient location – including physical therapy. That’s because each one of our seven office locations has a license physical therapist on staff.
The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of the most important parts of the knee. Your ACL helps stabilize your knee and allows your knee and the rest of your leg to move smoothly. When you tear your ACL, you will likely feel pain immediately in your knee, which will likely swell and give way when trying to walk.
Many people tear their ACL while participating in sports such as basketball, soccer, football or skiing. Changing directly quickly or stopping suddenly are common reasons why people tear their ACL. The most common symptom of a torn ACL is a loud pop-like sound or sensation in the knee.
An MRI or X-ray is often needed to properly diagnose a torn ACL. Each one of our seven offices has an MRI machine. That way, we can diagnose what’s wrong right away with your ACL. Surgery may be recommended, especially if you’re an athlete and more than one ligament is damaged. All of these issues can be discussed when you meet with a surgeon at IMC Bone Doc and undergo a thorough examination.
The medial collateral ligament (MCL) is the thick, rope-like ligament which connects the lower shin (known as the tibia) to the thigh bone (femur). The MCL helps stabilize the knee and prevents the knee from extending too far inward.
A torn MCL often occurs due to a direct blow to the knee. As a result, contact sports, like football or soccer, are often common causes of torn MCL injuries. The MCL can also tear due to overuse and repeated stress, too. Turning or pivoting injuries are also common causes of MCL tears, which often occur while playing tennis, basketball or while skiing.
How do you know if you have an MCL tear? Symptoms often include severe knee pain, swelling of the knee and stiffness. In short, if something feels wrong, have an experienced, orthopedic knee surgeon examine you right away. The sooner we can start treating your knee injury, the sooner you can start your road to recovery.
Also known as lateral epicondylitis, tennis elbow is an injury which affects the tendons in the forearm muscles on the outside of the elbow. Often, tennis elbow occurs due to overuse and from repeating the same motion again and again. When it comes to sports, frequent tennis players are often more likely to sustain tennis elbow injuries since they perform the same tennis motion hitting and returning a tennis ball.
Common symptoms of tennis elbow include chronic elbow pain. Athletes with tennis elbow may also have a hard time holding objects with the injured arm or forming a strong grip. This is often due to the pain and muscle damage associated with tennis elbow injuries.
Pain medications and rest may be the best way to treat tennis elbow. Sometimes, surgery is necessary, especially if symptoms do not improve in 6-12 months and if tissue damage is severe. One of our surgeons can examine you and discuss which treatment options make the most sense for your tennis elbow injury.
The meniscus are the large, C-shaped pieces of cartilage located on top of the tibia (shin bone) in the knee. When one or both of the menisci are torn, knee pain can be severe and immediate and can cause severe swelling in the knee.
Torn meniscus injuries often occur due to twisting or over flexing the knee. As a result, torn meniscus injuries involving sports are common among people playing basketball, football, tennis or other sports that involving stopping and moving in short, sharp bursts.
Along with swelling of the knee, a popping sensation in the knee is a common symptom of a torn meniscus. Difficulty straightening the knee or feeling as though the knee is locked in place are also common symptoms. You’ll only know for sure if you tore your meniscus if you have a doctor examine you and diagnose exactly what’s wrong.
One of the most common and painful shoulder injuries, a torn rotator cuff involves an injury to the muscles and tendons surrounding the shoulder joint. Specifically, torn rotator cuff injuries involve either tearing part of the rotator cuff (partial rotator cuff tear) or completely tearing the tendon all the way through (complete rotator cuff tear).
Rotator cuff tears often happen due to repetitive motions. As a result, athletes who play tennis or baseball sometimes sustain rotator cuff tears due to repeating the same motion again and again. Rotator cuff tears can also happen due to a sudden injury, such as falling on your shoulder or while lifting a heavy object.
An X-ray or MRI is often necessary to confirm whether someone has a torn rotator cuff. All seven of our medical offices has an MRI machine. Our doctors also have extensive experience diagnosing and treating torn rotator cuff injuries. That’s why you can count on us after your sports injury.
A broken hip bone or fracture can be a very serious injury, which can severely affect a person’s mobility and ability to get around. Hip fractures often occur in older adults with osteoarthritis. Hip fractures can affect younger, athletic adults, especially among people participating in contact sports, like football, or sports which can involving falling hard on the hip, such as downhill skiing.
If you fractured your hip, you likely noticed something was wrong right away. Common symptoms of a hip fracture include not being able to move right away after a fall, severe hip pain, swelling around the hip area and inability to put weight on your hip.
Depending on the severity of your hip fracture, there are several different types of hip surgery you may want to consider based on your diagnosis. Total hip replacement (THR) surgery may be necessary. Or you might be a suitable candidate for partial hip replacement (PHR) surgery or having metal screws inserted into your hip to hold the fracture in place so your hip heals properly.
The knee contains many different, complicated parts. Sometimes, those different parts can get moved or knocked out of place, resulting in a dislocated knee injury. These injuries are rare but can often occur among athletes who may bend their knee too far or overextend their knee.
That’s why dislocated knee injuries sometimes occur among athletes playing basketball, football or other sports that involving stopping suddenly or twisting the knee in an awkward position. Falling hard on the knee is also another common causes of knee dislocation injuries. As a result, skiers sometimes dislocate their knee due to a hard fall while skiing.
You’ll likely realize you have a dislocated knee right away. The knee pain can be severe. Swelling and bruising of the knee are also common. You’ll likely not know for sure if you have a dislocated knee until a doctor has examined your knee and your knee has been X-rayed or photographed using an MRI machine, a device we have in all seven of our New York offices.
Surgery may be necessary to correct your dislocated knee. That is just one of several treatment options available to you. That’s why we want to meet with as soon as possible to examine your knee and discuss which treatment approach makes the most sense for you.
As the name suggests, runner’s knee is a knee injury common among runners. Specifically, runner’s knee is often characterized by a dull pain around the knee due structural defects in the knee, often due to running a certain way which aggravates the knee.
Also known as patellofemoral pain syndrome, runner’s knee can be very painful due to different parts inside the knee rubbing or grinding together. In order to know for sure if you have runner’s knee, an X-ray or MRI may be necessary.
Resting and icing the knee may be all that’s required to treat runner’s knee. You may also need more aggressive medical care, including physical therapy, arch supports in your shoes and/or wearing a compression knee wrap. All of these options can be discussed with one of our doctors when they examine your injured knee.
Officially known as medial tibial stress syndrome, shin splints are a common sports injury, especially among runners, soccer players, basketball players and other sports which involve a lot of running. Shin splints refer to pain focused on the front of the lower leg. This shin pain is often caused by a recent, rapid increase in exercise and overuse of the muscles and tendons located around the shins.
Often, shin splits can be treated by icing and resting your legs. Anti-inflammatory pain medications are also often an effective treatment for shin splints, but it is important to not try to diagnose yourself. The pain in your shin could be a symptom of a much more serious medical issue. That’s why it’s always important to have an experienced, orthopedic surgeon examine you and determine exactly what’s wrong.
The muscles in an athlete’s back often experience a lot of wear and tear. Whether it’s running, lifting heavy objects or participating in contact sports like football, the back muscles, tendons and ligaments are often put under a lot of strain. When that happens, back sprains are common.
A back sprain is when the ligaments in the back are torn or stretched too far. Other times, the back muscles or tendons can be strained due to being pulled, twisted or torn apart. Either way, these back injuries can be painful and prevent people with back sprains from doing many of the things they probably take for granted.
If you believe you sustained a back sprain, our experienced back surgeons can examine you and determine exactly what’s wrong with your back. We know what symptoms to look for and we have advanced diagnostic equipment in all seven of our offices, including an MRI machine in each office. That’s why we want to examine you and help you get you back on the field and back doing all the things you love as soon as possible.
