Volleyball Injuries

There are two types or categories of injuries an athlete can get from playing volleyball: overuse or acute.

An overuse injury, also known as a cumulative injury is caused by consistent strain and exertion to a joint or muscle. The constant stress put on the muscle or joint without time for healing starts out as a small pain or discomfort and after time results in a serious injury if not treated properly. Common overuse injuries occur in the shoulder or rotator cuff, elbow, wrist, achilles tendon, osteoarthritis of the knee and pain in the lower and upper back.

An acute injury is also called a traumatic injury meaning a sudden, dramatic incident has occurred to a part of the body. Common acute injuries in volleyball are torn rotator cuff, shoulder dislocation, wrist and ankle sprains, broken fingers, achilles tendon rupture and hamstring pulls/tears.

A major traumatic injury that is very common for volleyball players are knee injuries such as a torn ligaments. The ACL and PCL are the easiest and most common to injure. The reason knee injuries are so prevalent is due to the quickness of the sport and the constant change of direction. There is a lot of stop and go that the knee needs to adjust to and sometimes the body keeps going when the knee does not.

To avoid these injuries it is necessary to get a good warm up and stay hydrated. Wearing shoes specified for the sport of volleyball is beneficial due to its design for change of direction. Keeping the court clean and dry will also help prevent injuries. Many injuries happen when opposing players are at the net and accidently land on eachother's feet. Playing by the rules and keeping a fair distance from the net will help prevent many foot. ankle and knee injuries. Heating prior to play and icing after will aid in the recovery of overuse injuries.

Some of the ideas in this article were supported by:
http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/volleyballinjuries/a/vb_injuries.htm