Sports Injuries

Overview

Sports injuries fall into two broad groups. Acute injuries happen suddenly — a rolled ankle, a pulled hamstring, a twisted knee, a shoulder wrenched in a fall. Overuse injuries build up gradually when a tendon, bone or muscle is loaded more than it can adapt to — runner's knee, shin splints, Achilles or patellar tendinopathy, tennis elbow and stress reactions in bone.

Both are extremely common, from weekend footballers and marathon runners to people who have just joined a gym or started a couch-to-5K plan. Most are not serious and settle well with the right early care and a sensible return to activity. The mistakes we see most often are at the two extremes: pushing through pain and making things worse, or resting completely for weeks and losing strength and confidence, which makes re-injury more likely.

This page explains what to do in the first 72 hours, which signs mean you should be seen promptly, and how our treatment pathway works. For specific injuries, see the dedicated condition pages across the site.

Causes and risk factors

• A sudden increase in training volume, intensity or frequency ("too much, too soon")
• Returning to sport after a break without rebuilding gradually
• Inadequate warm-up or poor technique
• Muscle imbalances, previous injury or incomplete rehabilitation
• Fatigue, dehydration and poor sleep
• Unsuitable footwear, surfaces or equipment
• Contact and awkward landings in team sports

How we may be able to help

In the first 72 hours after an acute injury, follow the PEACE principles: Protect the area and reduce activity for a day or two; Elevate it; Avoid anti-inflammatory measures where possible in the first days, as some inflammation supports recovery (your GP can advise on medication); Compress with a bandage; and Educate yourself — most soft-tissue injuries do not need a scan. After that, LOVE: Load gradually, stay Optimistic, keep up Vascular (cardio) activity, and Exercise. Ice can help pain for short periods, but is not essential.

Be seen promptly if you cannot put weight through the limb, if a joint looks deformed or dislocated, if swelling is rapid and severe, if you heard a loud pop with immediate loss of function, or if numbness, coldness or colour change appears below the injury. Fractures needing a cast and dislocations need A&E first; we provide rehabilitation afterwards.

Our pathway starts with a full assessment: how the injury happened, which structures are involved, how severe it is, and whether imaging or a medical opinion is needed — which we can arrange through an online private GP consultation. Physiotherapy then follows a staged plan: settle pain and swelling, restore movement, rebuild strength and control, and finally sport-specific work and return-to-play testing based on objective measures rather than a calendar date. Interferential therapy and therapeutic ultrasound may be used as adjuncts in the early phase; kinesiology taping can support a joint as you return to training. For stubborn tendon problems, focused shockwave may be considered. Our chiropractor can assess and treat spinal or pelvic stiffness that limits performance. Dry needling, cupping and IASTM may be used for tight muscles and fascia.

What you can do at home

• In the first 48–72 hours: protect, elevate and compress; avoid heavy loading, heat, alcohol and massage over the injury
• Start gentle, pain-tolerable movement early — stiffness and weakness set in quickly with total rest
• Keep up cardiovascular fitness with activities that do not stress the injury (cycling, swimming, upper-body work)
• Do not return to full sport until you can match the uninjured side in strength, hopping and confidence
• Build training back up gradually — no more than about 10% increase in load per week
• Address the cause — footwear, technique, warm-up, recovery — so it does not happen again