Common Injuries Volleyball Players Suffer

Sports and injuries are inevitably inseparable as in any sport whether it's basketball, football, or even tennis, there's always the risk of players getting injured. And yes, even in non-contact sports such as volleyball, injuries aren't avoidable at all.

And like in basketball where players can get hurt any time, volleyball players can face a wide variety of injuries that could lead to players missing a certain number of games depending on the severity of the said injuries and the most common injury volleyball players encounter: ankle sprain.

For starters, ankle sprains are also common in other sports such as basketball and football but volleyball players are more prone to this type of injury because of all the jumps that players do as part of the game. In most cases, ankle sprains in volleyball can be sustains by a player landing on someone's else foot or landing awkwardly after a spike. The good news though: most cases of ankle sprains aren't that severe although it can also happen that an ankle sprain can lead to fractures that can require surgery.

Knee injuries are also common to volleyball players such as the one that hit Chiara Permentilla of the Marinerang Pilipina Lady Skippers who sustained a lateral ligament sprain on her left knee last year. Permentilla went on to undergo surgery and missed the remainder of the Philippine SuperLiga (PSL) All-Filipino Conference last year. One specific knee injury that volleyball players commonly suffer is the one they call "Jumper's Knee" or as the medical experts call it, patellar tendonitis. This injury can be suffered because of the number of times a volleyball player needs to jump up for a block or a spike in games. This happens when a player experiences irritation in the tendons around the knee cap that is caused by micro-tears that can cause pain and stiffness. While you can avoid this injury by reducing the times you jump, the best way to actually work around this is by furthermore do strengthening drills on your knees. It's also advised that the moment a player experiences pain from jumping, that player should seek medical attention right away.

Shoulder injuries are also common among volleyball players due to the high number of times that they use their shoulders to serve and spike which are considered as high-stress activities. Too much serving or spiking can lead to problems in the tendonitis and ligaments that are shouldering the shoulders themselves and the best way to reduce the risk of sustaining shoulder injuries is by doing strengthening drills for shoulders as well as stretching properly prior to the games and practices. Usage of the necessary mechanics for serving and spiking can help reduce the risk of getting injured. 

Finger injuries such as a dislocated finger, are also common to volleyball players as they hit the ball with their hands repeatedly. One wrong contact with the ball or even the net can result to a finger getting jammed or dislocated. The first way towards a quick recovery from any kind of finger injury is getting it evaluated and treated immediately especially if intense pain is being experienced. Severe cases of injuries in fingers may involve discoloration or even the inability to move the fingers. 

If there's one specific injury that isn't only common among volleyball players but almost all athletes, it's back injuries. In simple terms, pain in the lower back is caused by a ligament or muscle strain. The key to quickly recovering from this specific injury is getting the back evaluated especially if the pain doesn't subdue in the succeeding days.

Regardless of what sport you are playing, injuries will always be a part of the game and while injuries are somewhat unavoidable even for the best athletes, it's how you deal with the injuries that will determine how quickly you can come back from that setback. Fortunately, the medical science has been continuously evolving with the introduction and implementation of new techniques to deal with pain. 

Photo is from SPIN.ph