With the professional football season nearly wrapped up, most children and adults are turning their athletic attention indoors, making basketball the most common sport to be played at this time of the year. But in a bid to escape the cold outside, the big worry is that some may be making themselves more susceptible to injuries inside. To protect yourself from injuries while playing basketball, please consider the insights and tips included in a new report.
As the author notes, the most common type of damage you can expect on the court is a sprain to your ankle. That’s to be expected given how the game of basketball works. You’re out there pivoting and twisting and changing directions at a moment’s notice, and this can take a toll on your ankles.
There is no easy way to reduce the risk of an ankle injury other than developing strength in that area, but you can help yourself out by not putting off treatment once a sprain occurs. The more pressure you put on the area, the greater the risk that the damage will be exacerbated. RICE (rest, ice, compression, and elevation) is the best bet in this regard, and if you’re intent on getting back out onto the court, you ought to only do so with a brace or a thorough tape-job. When things get to the point where you can’t bare to put weight on your foot, you need to seek prompt medical assistance.
The articled linked to above also notes the increased number of fractures in the legs that can occur as persons head onto the harder court after months of participating in sports that take place on softer soil. As with an ankle sprain, the first thing you want to do is make sure that you’re not putting yourself more at risk. When a break is suspected, take weight off of the area at once, perhaps by way of crutches, and then get to a doctor rather than going back into the game.
Your hands are also going to be at risk during basketball, both as the ball is rocketing around the court and as you’re coming into accidental contact with other players or with the rim. If you think that you’ve suffered a sprain, you might be able to get away with taping. But if you notice that the finger is bent or skewed or swelled, then a break may have occurred, and as with the injuries described above, you have to seek out assistance.
For more on basketball injuries and how to treat them, click the link up above.