Davis and DeRosa Physical Therapy:The Physcial Issues

The Facts

Workplace

In the last 30 years, workplace safety has improved through government and industry agencies. More than 105 million workers are employed in the United States by nearly 7 million companies.
Nearly 6 million occupational injuries occur each year. In more attainable numbers, 6 out of every 100 workers experience a job-related serious injury.

Sports-Related

Adults age 25 and over sustained and estimated 3.21 million sports and recreational injuries annually to date. By sport this number includes the following:

More women of all ages are participating in sports than ever before. In women's sports, the action is now faster and more aggressive and powerful than in the past. As a result, women are sustaining many more injuries, and the injuries tend to be sport specific

How to Prevent Injury

Whether you've never had a sports injury and you're trying to keep it that way
or you've had an injury and don't want another, the following tips can help.

Avoid bending knees past 90 degrees when doing half knee bends.

Avoid twisting knees by keeping feet as flat as possible during stretches.

When jumping, land with your knees bent.

Do warm-up exercises not just before vigorous activities like running, but also before less vigorous ones such as golf.

Don't overdo.

Do warm-up stretches before activity. Stretch the Achilles tendon, hamstring, and quadriceps areas and hold the positions. Don't bounce.

Cool down following vigorous sports. For example, after a race, walk or walk/jog for five minutes so your pulse comes down gradually.

Wear properly fitting shoes that provide shock absorption and stability.

Use the softest exercise surface available, and avoid running on hard surfaces like asphalt and concrete. Run on flat surfaces. Running uphill may increase the stress on the Achilles tendon and the leg itself.