Top 10 most common sports injuries

Sabrina Rogers / Askmen.com

There are hundreds of different sports injuries, but there are certain parts of the body that are more prone to damage than others.

In fact, the top three categories comprise more than 80 percent of all sports injuries. Read on to find out which injuries are most common, as well as ways to prevent and treat these ailments.

10. Achilles tendonitis

When the tendon at the back of the ankle — the Achilles tendon — is overused, inflammation and pain can occur, which is known as acute Achilles tendonitis. If this condition is left untreated, it can become chronic and the injury can worsen until it becomes impossible to run. Achilles tendonitis is most common among runners and athletes who participate in sports that involve running or jumping.

Prevention and treatment: Stretching and strengthening exercises for the calf muscles can help prevent injury to the Achilles tendon. Rest, ice, compression, and elevation (RICE), an anti-inflammatory medication, and strengthening your calf muscles are your best treatment options. Do not resume sports until the injury is completely healed or it may become a chronic condition.

9. Concussion

A concussion is an injury to the brain that is usually the result of a blow to the head. Symptoms include disorientation, vision disturbance, headache, dizziness, amnesia, loss of balance, difficulty concentrating, and nausea. A concussion does not necessarily involve a loss of consciousness. Concussions are most common in contact sports, such as football, boxing, hockey, and soccer. However, they also occur in sports like skiing and gymnastics. While most people return to normal a few weeks or months after a concussion, multiple concussions can cause permanent damage.

Prevention and treatment: The best way to prevent concussion is to avoid contact sports, but that may not be a viable option for many people. Treating a concussion simply involves resting, although you can take acetaminophen (Tylenol) if you have a headache. Depending on the severity of your concussion, you will have to refrain from playing contact sports for a few hours to a few months. Returning to play too quickly could result in second impact syndrome, a potentially fatal condition.

8. Groin strain

A strained groin or adductor muscles — the fan-like muscles situated in the upper thigh that serve to pull the legs together — usually happens when you suddenly change directions while running, such as in soccer, hockey, basketball, racket sports, football, and volleyball. Symptoms include sharp pain, swelling and sometimes even bruising on the inside of the thigh.

Prevention and treatment: As with most sports injuries, the best way to prevent a groin pull is to stretch properly before exercising. Also, gradually increasing the intensity of the activity rather than jumping into the activity too quickly may help prevent injury, and strengthening the groin muscles can be helpful too. RICE, combined with anti-inflammatory medications, is the best treatment plan. Don't do anything too strenuous for a week or two after the injury, and when you do resume exercising, apply ice to the affected area after your workout until healed. When you are feeling better, start a stretching and strengthening program.

7. Shin splints

Shin splints refer to pain on the inner side of the shinbone caused by inflammation of the muscles that surround it. They often affect people who aren't used to exercising; they can be caused by increasing the intensity of your workout too fast, wearing worn-out shoes or by jumping or running on hard ground.

Prevention and treatment: Wearing good shoes, cross training, stretching, and not increasing workout intensity too quickly are the best preventive measures. As for treatment, ice, stretching and anti-inflammatory medications are your best bets.

6. Lower back pain

Although lower-back pain is much less common among athletes than among sedentary and overweight people, it can affect runners, cyclists, golfers, tennis, and baseball players. While there are many types of lower-back pain — bulging discs, back spasms, and pain reaching down the leg from the lower back, known as sciatica — the most common reason for sports-related back pain is simply improper stretching. In the case of runners, having even the slightest discrepancy in leg length can cause back pain.

Prevention and treatment: Although some lower-back injuries cannot be prevented, warming up properly before exercising will greatly reduce your risk of injury. While bulging discs and sciatica require fast medical treatment, you can treat a simple muscle pull or back spasm yourself with RICE, anti-inflammatory medication and stretching. Runners with a difference in leg length can get orthotic lifts from a podiatrist to correct the problem.

5. Pulled muscle

Not warming up properly, fatigue, lack of flexibility, and weakness can cause all types of athletes to pull a muscle. The most commonly pulled muscles are hamstrings (especially in sports involving running, such as jogging, basketball and soccer) and calves (particularly in older tennis players). The hamstrings are the muscles behind your thighs; pulling them is painful and can even cause bruising. While these are the most common, you can pull many different muscles depending on the sport you are performing.

Prevention and treatment: The best way to prevent pulling a muscle is to stretch properly before and after exercising, and avoid working out when you are fatigued and weak. As with most injuries, RICE and anti-inflammatory drugs are helpful, as well as gentle stretches. When the injury has begun to heal, you can begin exercising again, but stop every so often during your workout to stretch until you are completely healed.

4. Tennis or golf elbow

Elbow injuries account for 7 percent of all sports injuries. Tennis elbow consists of tendon degeneration in the elbow due to repeated backhand strokes in tennis. It causes pain on the outside of the elbow. Golf elbow, on the other hand, usually affects the inside of the elbow, although it can sometimes attack the outside. The pain experienced is a result of an inflammation of the epicondyle, the area on the inside of the elbow where the forearm-flexing muscles attach to the upper arm.

Prevention and treatment: The best way to prevent these ailments is to perform forearm-strengthening exercises, such as wrist curls, reverse wrist curls and squeezing a soft rubber ball. Also, improving your swing technique and wearing an elbow brace can be very helpful. Treatment can be as simple as RICE and anti-inflammatory medications, but in some cases physiotherapy and a prolonged break from the sport may be necessary.

3. Ankle sprain

Ankle sprains are very common among soccer, hockey, basketball, and volleyball players. They are almost inevitable in sports that involve jumping, running and turning quickly; these movements can lead to twisting the ankle and even possibly tearing a tendon or ligament. An X-ray can rule out the possibility of a fracture.

Prevention and treatment: Strengthening your ankles by doing exercises such as ankle lifts on stairs, as well as taping the ankle or wearing a lace-up brace can help, but these measures in no way guarantee that you won't be injured if you fall hard or make a false movement. Treat an ankle sprain with RICE and anti-inflammatory drugs, but don't rest it excessively for more than a day. To help your ankle heal faster, you should try to move your ankle gently to get the circulation going and reduce swelling.

2. Shoulder injury

About 20 percent of sports injuries involve the shoulder, including dislocations, sprains and strains. Shoulder injuries are most common in tennis, swimming, weightlifting, baseball, and volleyball — basically, any sport that involves a lot of overhead movement. These problems are generally due to overuse, which loosens the rotator cuff — the group of tendons and muscles that surround the shoulder. Symptoms include pain, stiffness, and weakness and slipping in the shoulder.

Prevention and treatment: To prevent shoulder injuries — which often occur when you haven't been using your shoulder muscles for a while, such as during your baseball league's off-season — be sure to strengthen your muscles through weight training before the season begins. If you do injure yourself, RICE and an anti-inflammatory medication are your best treatment options.

1. Runner's knee

Knee injuries comprise about 55 percent of all sports injuries and approximately one-fourth of all problems treated by orthopedic surgeons. Although torn ligaments and cartilage are the most common injuries, many knee problems are grouped into the category of "runner's knee," which includes a variety of aches and pains related to the kneecap. Runners are not the only victims of such injuries; they also strike cyclists, swimmers, people who practice step aerobics, and football, basketball, and volleyball players. Runner's knee occurs when overuse leads to irritation of the tendon below the kneecap or when the region underneath the kneecap is worn or afflicted with arthritis.

Prevention and treatment: Replace shoes and insoles regularly; choose a softer running surface such as an indoor track rather than hard pavement; strengthen your quadriceps through weight training; take more rest days between workouts; and cross train to prevent overuse. If you injure your knee, don't exercise for at least two days and take an anti-inflammatory medication. When you resume your workout, make sure to warm up properly and apply ice to your knee for about 20 minutes afterward.

Prevention is key

Many sports injuries are due to an improper warm-up or stretching routine or because the level of intensity of the workout was increased too quickly. Therefore, the best way to avoid sports injuries that can keep you out of the game for weeks or months is to stretch adequately before and after your workout, and to pace yourself according to your level of skill and experience in the sport.

Tyson thinking of fighting women?

/ Associated Press

STRONGSVILLE, Ohio (AP) - Mike Tyson said fans should not expect much of a fight when he steps back into the ring.

But the 40-year-old former heavyweight boxing champ promised an entertaining show Friday night when he launches the "Mike Tyson's World Tour" in Youngstown.

At a news conference at an Italian restaurant, Tyson said he would likely go just four rounds and that future stops on the tour might include bouts with women, possibly professional boxer Ann Wolfe.

Wolfe, from Waco, Texas, is 21-1 with 15 knockouts.

"She's such a prominent, dominant woman in the boxing field," Tyson said.

When asked if he was joking about fighting women, Tyson said, "I'm very serious."

Russ Young, a promoter for Wolfe, said such a bout will never happen.

"That's the first we've heard of it," Young said. "No state would sanction that. She would be outweighed by 60 to 70 pounds (27-32 kilos). Ann would never entertain the idea."

Tyson said the tour was meant to be fun and raise money for charity.

"It's all fun. I'm not Mike Tyson," he said, referring to the fierce boxer whose career was upended by a prison term. "I'm not 20 years old. I'm not going to smash anybody. I'm not going to talk about smashing anybody's brains. You're not going to see that guy no more."

At the press conference, Tyson posed for photos with fans, signed autographs and campaigned for Maryland U.S. Senate candidate Michael Steele.

Tyson, wearing a white and blue Steele for U.S. Senate T-shirt, said he used to believe black Republicans were "sellouts." But Tyson said he changed his mind after researching the Maryland lieutenant governor.

"We have to open our eyes more," Tyson said, as he pointed to his T-shirt.

His recent years have been marked by embarrassing fights - inside and out of the ring - and staggering debt. Tyson last fought in June 2005, losing to the unheralded Kevin McBride.

He will return to the ring Friday at the 6,000-seat Chevrolet Centre in Youngstown for a pay-per-view television event against former sparring partner Corey "T-Rex" Sanders.

Tyson had said he was finished with boxing after his bout with McBride, which he quit after six rounds.

The man who vowed to eat Lennox Lewis' children and bit off a piece of Evander Holyfield's ear has said he's in no mood for a comeback.

He recently trained in a makeshift ring at a Las Vegas hotel.

Tyson shot to fame by knocking out Trevor Berbick in 1986 to become the youngest heavyweight champion in history at age 20. He was knocked out by James "Buster" Douglas in 1990 and lost his world heavyweight title. He later served prison time for rape, returned to fighting and infamously bit Holyfield's ear in a 1997 fight.

Once again, England fails to impress

Nick Webster / Fox Soccer Channel

Oh dear! As much as things promise to change, inevitably they're destined to remain the same — and never was this statement more true than when describing the England football team.

Quite frankly, I've given up hope of ever seeing England winning anything and for once it feels sort of comforting after 40 years of agony. Somehow having an empty feeling in the pit of my stomach is far better than a mass of anguished, complicated knots that usually accompanies watching my national team. I suppose it's a bit like being a Newcastle United fan in that we're considered a big club with the greatest support except for the most important thing...we're incapable of winning anything.

On Saturday at Old Trafford, the venue for England's third qualifying match for Euro 2008, I was already setting myself up for a tired limp performance even before the first whistle blew and I wasn't disappointed.

New boss Steve McClaren showed himself to be no better than his predecessor Sven-Goran Eriksson. By picking a horribly out-of-form Wayne Rooney and an internationally limited Stewart Downing against Macedonia, McClaren demonstrated a lack of man-management that epitomized his stay as the bumbling gaffer of mid- to lower-table Middlesbrough — and to think that I briefly thought that he could effect a revolution/evolution in the national team!

All credit to Macedonia though as they showed that their previous three results in Euro qualifying against England (two tight losses and a draw) were no flukes. Macedonian coach Srecko Katanec set up his team quite beautifully and in all fairness they can count themselves unlucky not to have nicked all three points. They looked dangerous, as they are able to break with quick, incisive passes while defending with discipline and organization.

I've always wondered why eastern European teams counter-attack better than English teams and after watching Katanec's charges it's obvious why — they know how to move the ball to one another while demonstrating technique playing at speed...what a concept!

Let's return to England though and examine where I believe McClaren and his team have gone wrong.

The backline can't be criticized having not conceded a goal, however, they did seem slightly vulnerable to Macedonian players who ran at them — they can expect the same from Croatia on Wednesday. Ashley Cole looks far from his best as he continues to suffer post-Arsenal depression and Paul Robinson, who collected his fifth consecutive clean sheet, just doesn't fill me with confidence. But at the end of the day, England is always difficult to beat thanks to their defensive grit and enthusiasm.

The midfield was a different story altogether.

Who would've thought we'd be lamenting the absence of Owen Hargreaves from an England team six months ago? The hole left by the Bayern Munich holding maestro was immense. Michael Carrick just doesn't supply the same energy levels as Hargreaves and I believe Scott Parker would've been a far better choice. The Newcastle man has been in inspired form and provides a better goal-scoring threat.

As for width we had to rely on Downing on the left and Steven Gerrard on the right. Downing though gifted is far short of international quality at the moment and seems to be benefiting solely from being McClaren's pet. Gerrard on the other hand has no excuses. His passing was slack and instead of offering width he kept coming inside and blocking off options. Other than nearly winning the match with a classic 25-yarder, I thought he was pants, much like Frank Lampard. The man is too slow when you compare him to the attacking midfielders of other countries. I can't help but think of a big bus when he receives the ball facing his own goal — beep, beep, beep is the sound coming out of his shorts as he slowly turns his body in the required direction.

I think maybe it's time to let Lampard have a nice rest on the pine and regain his desire to play and boss for England.

Up front, Peter Crouch was his usual self, missing chances that 'real' quality strikers bury. But of course the big concern was Wayne Rooney. The boy is so short of form at the moment it's embarrassing and he knows it. His touch is non-existent and his body language is extremely negative. Hopefully he'll come good and break out of this slump but not on this stage. We should think about letting him come off the bench to add spark, thereby taking some of the pressure of his shoulders.

Simply put, McClaren must pick the in-form striker and that is Darren Bent, not Jermain Defoe who is having his own confidence crisis at Spurs.

McClaren has always stated that he would pick sides based on form, not reputations. It's time to start living up to those words or accept the wrath of the English public. Thankfully, with my newfound center of peace and enlightenment, Wednesday against Croatia will be more enjoyable for me than the fans back home in Blighty...yeah right!

Until then, get the beers in...