Finally winter is long gone and we get to enjoy the great outdoors. It’s the time of the year when most likely many of us; the professional athlete, the casual sport enthusiasts and the spectators get out into the streets and hit the parks, beaches, and football fields to practice, participate in, enjoy or simply watch “outdoor sports” in our respective environments and cities.

As much fun it is to be outdoors, enjoying the sun, feeling the cool breeze and sharing some competitive moments with friends or team mates, the reality sets in quickly if you get injured.

In this Outdoor Sports category we outline great outdoor activities and provide you with some helpful tips on how to prevent outdoor sports injuries as well as providing you with some advice on how to manage your injuries.

Let’s start with one of springtime’s great outdoor activities; Volleyball. Probably an instinctive choice by me, as yours truly conveniently broke a finger at the beach last year only 30 min into the game, which quickly turned a sunny afternoon on the beach into a hospital visit, a painkiller shot, 6 weeks in a cast, various visits at the local orthopedist office and on top it all, 30 sessions in the rehabilitation center.

Even though volleyball doesn’t count as a contact sport, players often are exposed to collisions, falls and other strange situations that can easily lead to injuries.

Some common reasons for injuries in volleyball are:

The surface you are playing on. It’s proven that outdoor volleyball, played in deep sand produces fewer injuries than playing on hard surfaces. So keep it outdoors!

As volleyball requires quick, repetitive and explosive movements in different directions, missing a warm up session before the game, can cause muscle soreness and injuries. Check out our post: The benefits of warming-up

A third important factor is the training monotony; players train basic game skills repetitively and overuse many joints, muscles and ligaments. This type of training leads to inflammation, stiffness, or chronic pain of those body parts. So keep it in mind and try to mix up your training routines.

Last but not least; improper technique, can be easily unnoticed and often only realized when pain starts to interfere.

Common volleyball injuries

Hand and finger Injuries – can span from a simple finger sprain while misblocking a spiked ball, to dislocating your finger or thumb due to inadequate blocking technique. The symptoms of a thumb injury include: swelling, pain and tenderness, pain in the hand when touching the end of the thumb and localised loss of mobility. Finger injuries are considered a minor trauma BUT without proper treatment they can cause major problems.

Shoulder Injuries – repeated overhead arm movements can lead to a weakening of the rotator cuff muscle. Shoulder injuries can go from shoulder dislocation to shoulder separation. Common symptoms are inflammation, swelling of the shoulder area, shooting pain and numbness. There are different types of injuries, type I and II are considered mild while type IV, V, and VI are injuries that generally require surgery.

Ankle Injuries – are common for many players during the game. There are numerous ligaments around the ankle and they can easily be pulled and torn when forced into an awkward position. The shooting pain and swelling are normally a fairly good indication that you have hurt your ankle.

Knee Injuries –  knee bends that are performed repeatedly, “hard landings” and excess stress on the joints causes pain and swelling. A common symptom is morning stiffness that decreases as the day progresses.

Back Injuries – repeatedly changing direction or striking the ball above your head can easily lead to players developing chronic back pain. Common symptoms are pain while flexing, twisting or rotating your lower back.

Playing volleyball is lot of fun but as in any other sport, to prevent injuries dedicate 15 min before the game to warm up and stretch. Our Creamy Gel will also help you to prepare the body parts that will experience most stress during the game. Don’t forget when the match is over, a 10 min cool-down session of strethcing exercises will help to prevent muscle soreness next morning. Mad Freeze will also help your muscles to relax faster and prevent inflammation.

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