Chronic injuries

• Chronic injuries occur over a longer period of time and are often called overuse injuries.
• Chronic injuries often occur as tendons , ligaments or cartilage slowly become worn down.
• Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint condition where the cartilage between the bone ends wears away.
• Stress fractures are tiny cracks in the surface of the bone caused by fatigued muscle transferring stress to the bone.
• Symptoms of stress fractures are specific spots of pain, swelling after activity and aches.
• Stress fractures are common in distance running , tennis , gymnastics and basketball where the repetitive stress of the foot on the ground without sufficient rest periods can cause trauma.
• Shin splints is chronic shin pain. As a result of the tibialis anterior and posterior muscles being overworked they can become injured through excessive loading stress.
• Symptoms of shin splints are tenderness and inflammation.
• Shin splints are common in high impact sports like basketball and netball.
• In most cases of shin splints the tendon and the periosteum become inflamed. This is known as medial tibial stress syndrome (MTSS) and is common in distance runners and gymnasts.
• Tendonitis is the deterioration of the tendon collagen in response to chronic overuse
• Tendons are designed to transmit forces and withstand stress during muscular contraction.
• A tendon is a rough band of fibrous connective tissue. (86% collagen)
• Tendonitis is caused by repetitive strain and small injuries that accumulate.
• Symptoms of tendonitis are burning, stinging , aching and stiffness
• Tendonitis is common in tennis , golf and distance running.
• Common areas of tendonitis are elbow, kneww , shoulder and achilles.
• Tennis elbow is tendon pain in the forearm due to chronic overuse and repetitive strain.
• Achilles tendonitis is pain and deterioration of the tendon in the heel due to overuse and repetitive strain.