Charlottesville is an active community. Running, golf, and tennis are extremely popular. Fitness center memberships continue to grow. Participants recognize how injury may interfere with activity, even ending a season. Proper injury management, therefore, is imperative.
Overuse injuries tend to be more subtle, developing over time, even weeks to months.
By the time one develops symptoms related to an overuse injury, a significant amount of tissue damage or weakness may have already developed. An understanding of the causes of overuse injuries, prevention, and initial management strategies will help minimize the effects such injuries have on training and competition. Overuse injuries result from repetitive microtrauma that leads to inflammation or tissue damage resulting in such injuries as tendonitis, ligament sprains, joint swelling, and stress fractures. Overuse injuries are usually multifactorial, with many contributing risk factors. Predisposing risk factors are conveniently divided into intrinsic and extrinsic causes.