Some Interesting Facts About Soccer Injury
A generation or two ago, a soccer injury in the United States was almost unheard of, the reason being of course that few participated in the sport. Even as soccer began to grow in popularity, little thought was given to soccer injuries as the sport was not a contact sport in the same sense that football or rugby are. For the most part a soccer injury was considered to be caused by running or an occasional tackle or collision.
Today, over 30 million youngsters participate in one sport or another, and slightly more than 10% of them experience an injury of one type or another. A soccer injury of one kind or another sends an estimated 75,000 children to the emergency room for treatment every year. About half of these injuries are suffered by those in the 5 to 14 year age group, not surprising given the fact that the largest number of young soccer players are found in this age group. If this statistic sounds horrific, it should be mentioned that nearly 200,000 are admitted each year for football injuries, another 200,000 for basketball injuries and nearly 300,000 for bicycling injuries. More young people are treated every year for injuries suffered on trampolines than for soccer injuries.
Injuries occur among adults playing the game as well, and probably occur in greater frequency and severity. It's simply that the bulk of soccer players in this country are still quite young that has made the statistics so readily available where children are concerned.
Muscle Strains And Sprains Most Common - If you suffer a soccer injury and fall in line with the statistical trend, your soccer injury is most apt to be a muscle strain or sprain, which account for a little over a third of all soccer injuries. Fractures are not quite as common, and when a fracture does occur, it's mostly likely to be an ankle that's involved.
Although the head is used as a passing and deflection tool in the game, head-related injuries are not particularly common, and concussions are rare unless resulting from collisions between players moving at top speed. Although soccer is not considered to be a contact sport by many, contact does occur and occurs quite frequently. Collisions account for just under half of the total injuries ascribed to the game of soccer. As more and more girls get involved in the game, more and more of them suffer a soccer injury of one kind or another. Whereas boys tend to receive more injuries due to contact and more injuries to the head and neck, most of the injuries girls receive are to the ankles and knees.
Preventive Measures - Suffering a soccer injury cannot be completely avoided any more than can an injury from football, baseball, or skiing be avoided, but steps can always be taken to prevent injuries from happening. A few years ago, before people started watching professional soccer and could see that real pain could be inflicted or suffered, there was a general feeling that soccer was a somewhat genteel sport and there was really no need to take any preventive action. Now we realize that being in good physical condition and warming up before starting a game are both very important, especially when one has progressed beyond "bumblebee" soccer as played by preschoolers.
An Injury Often Neglected - It should be mentioned in closing that one type of soccer injury, usually not given a great deal of attention is the overuse injury. Anytime we over use joints or muscles and don't give them time to recover, we can suffer an overuse injury, as the tissues become more and more aggravated. The problem with overuse injuries is primarily that they tend to occur among children and young people who are in the midst of rapid growth. The tendon-bone junctions in the joints, especially the knees and ankles, are sometimes not up to the continual stress they are subjected to. Overuse injuries should be taken very seriously, and not be regarded as growing pains or a sign of laziness, as if the conditions are allowed to persist, chronic problems or long lasting damage could result.