Sports have become an integral part of the developmental experience of many of today's youth. Since the implementation of Title IX, more young girls and women have begun to play sports and see those sports as a possible career path. Tennis, basketball and soccer all have professional sports leagues for women, and many more sports offer women the…

The Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) is located behind the kneecap (patella) and connects the thigh bone (femur) to the shin bone (tibia). Stabilizing the knee joint is the primary responsibility of the ACL. Injuries that affect the ACL are three to five times more common in females than males. This is a result of anatomical, biomechanical,…

Shin splints are a common but often confusing injury. Sources disagree on both the cause of the injury and the anatomical source of the pain. Some blame shin splints on foot pronation, footstrike pattern, or arch height. Regardless of what causes the condition, it affects many runners, beginning in some at a young age. Young runners often have…

Exertional rhabdomyolysis gained increased attention recently when 13 football players from the University of Iowa developed this condition after an especially demanding practice session and were hospitalized. Exertional rhabdomyolysis may lead to severe kidney stress, kidney failure, and even sudden death. Anyone who does physical exercise at a…

Sports offer so many benefits to kids, from fun and fitness to responsibility and teamwork skills. With sports also come bumps and bruises--and one type of injury requires much more than an ice pack or a band-aid. Head trauma is one of the most common injuries sustained by young athletes, with more than 60,000 concussions occurring each year in…

The pole vault was considered the ultimate test of physical ability and daring before the advent of modern extreme sports such as skateboarding, snowboarding, and mountain biking. The inherent risks of the pole vault have been well documented. The National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research reported in 2007 that the catastrophic injury…

Running has become a very popular lifetime physical activity even though there are numerous reports of running injuries. Although common theories have pointed to impact forces and overpronation as the main contributors to chronic running injuries, the increased use of cushioning and orthotics has done little to decrease running injuries. A new…

Soon, the best athletes in the world will face each other at the Summer Olympics in Beijing. Many of them will sustain injuries, or seek to prevent them, and will be thankful that among their entourages are some of the best sports medicine professionals in the world. When an athlete collapses from fatigue, or something else, there will be a group…

Sports medicine specialists are beginning to reexamine the causes and treatments of rotator cuff problems, questioning the role of primary impingement in a deficient or torn cuff and trying new surgical procedures as alternatives to the traditional open acromioplasty. (Author/CB)

Bodily responses to an anterior cruciate ligament injury can range from minor to very significant. Understanding factors influencing the course can help physicians determine effective treatment strategies. Certain patterns, such as complete disruption and participation in high-demand sports, highlight the need for an aggressive approach.…

Outlines rehabilitation concepts applicable to acute and chronic ankle injury, providing evidence for current techniques used in ankle rehabilitation and describing a functional rehabilitation program that progresses from basic to advanced, while taking into account empirical data from the literature and clinical practice. The article notes that…

Investigates whether chronic ankle instability can be prevented, discussing: the relationship between mechanical and functional instability; normal ankle mechanics, sequelae to lateral ankle sprains, and abnormal ankle mechanics; and tissue healing, joint dysfunction, and acute lateral ankle sprain management. The paper describes a treatment model…

Investigation of ways to treat artificially induced acute inflammatory reactions in human tissue found that neither cooling or pressure alone reduced the swelling, while a combination of the two methods produced a significant reduction in swelling. (Author/CB)

Examined injury patterns in Little League baseball players over time, using insurance data from 17,221,210 players. Ball-related injuries were the most common. Batters had the greatest number of such injuries. One-quarter of the injuries were considered severe, and 13 players died. Though youth baseball appears to be very safe, there are areas…

Tibial stress injuries, commonly called shin splints, often result when bone remodeling processes adopt inadequately to repetitive stress. Physicians who are caring for athletic patients must have a thorough understanding of this continuum of injuries, including medial tibial stress syndrome and tibial stress fractures, because there are…