Sports-related repetitive stress injuries affect athletes of all levels and ages. These injuries develop gradually through repeated movements and overuse, cause significant pain, and limit your ability to participate in the sports you love. At Long Island Spine Rehabilitation Medicine, our experienced physiatrists provide comprehensive, non-surgical treatment options to help you recover and return to peak performance. Contact us today to find out how we can help you get back in the game.
What Are Sports-Related Repetitive Stress Injuries?
Repetitive stress injuries occur when athletes perform the same movements repeatedly over time, causing damage to bones, tendons, joints, or other soft tissues. Unlike acute injuries that happen suddenly, overuse injuries develop gradually as tissues become inflamed and sustain damage from continuous strain.
Overuse injuries typically progress through four stages:
- Pain after physical activity
- Pain during activity without performance restriction
- Pain during activity with performance limitation
- Chronic pain even at rest
Which Sports Activities Put Athletes at Greatest Risk?
Several sports carry higher risks for repetitive stress injuries due to their repetitive nature. More than one-quarter of all sports injuries occur due to overuse, with the injuries occurring more in individual sports (42%) than in team sports (33%).
As far as repetitive stress injuries go, high-risk sports include the following:
- Tennis and racket sports (elbow and shoulder injuries)
- Running and distance sports (knee, shin, and foot problems)
- Swimming (shoulder impingement)
- Baseball and softball (elbow and shoulder issues)
- Basketball (knee and ankle problems)
- Golf (elbow and back injuries)
- Cycling (knee and back problems)
The risk increases significantly for athletes who specialize in a single sport early in their life and play it year-round.
What Are the Most Common Types of Repetitive Stress Injuries in Athletes?
Rotator cuff injuries, among the most frequent shoulder problems, occur when the shoulder tendons become inflamed from repeated overhead motions. Swimmers, tennis players, and baseball players often deal with rotator cuff injuries, as they do with shoulder impingement—when the shoulder blade compresses soft tissues during repeated arm raising.
Tennis Elbow (Lateral Epicondylitis) affects the outer elbow tendons and causes pain extending to the forearm and wrist. Similarly, Golfer’s Elbow (Medial Epicondylitis) impacts the inner elbow tendons—it differs from tennis elbow in that it affects the inside of the joint.
Runner’s Knee (Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome) causes pain around or under the kneecap, commonly seen in young athletes. Shin splints result from inflammation of muscles, tendons, and bone tissue along the shinbone, and Achilles Tendonitis affects the body’s largest tendon through cumulative stress from running and jumping activities.
Why Do Athletes Develop These Injuries?
Multiple factors contribute to repetitive stress injury development:
- Excessive loading without adequate recovery time
- Rapid increases in training intensity or volume
- Poor conditioning and muscle imbalances
- Training and technique errors
- Muscle weakness or inflexibility
How Can Athletes Prevent Repetitive Stress Injuries?
Instead of frontloading training volume, physicians recommend that athletes systematically increase training demands while monitoring for signs of overload. Safely and slowly increasing activities improves physical fitness while reducing injury risk.
Adopt the following steps to minimize the risk of overuse injuries:
- Monitor your body’s response to training changes
- Allow adequate recovery between high-intensity sessions
- Vary training stimuli to prevent repetitive stress
- Implement gradual progression approaches
Cross-Training and Sport Diversification
Athletes should avoid specializing in one sport before reaching puberty. Diversifying your sport repertoire at a young age significantly reduces the risk of overuse injury.
Strength and Conditioning
Proper warm-up and cool-down exercises along with sport-specific conditioning helps prevent strain due to repetition and overuse—plus, maintaining good fitness levels during the off-season prevents injury development in the on-season.
Equipment and Safety
Properly maintained and correctly fitted protective equipment goes a long way toward preventing injuries. Make sure any equipment you use is in good condition, and avoid using gear with missing or broken components.
Recovery and Rest
Overuse injuries occur when the injured area does not have sufficient time to heal properly. Get at least eight hours of sleep nightly and optimize your nutritional intake to support tissue healing.
What Treatment Options Are Available for Athletes?
Most repetitive stress injuries respond well to the following conservative treatments:
Initial Management
- R.I.C.E. Protocol (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation)
- Activity Modification by temporarily reducing the problematic activities while maintaining a baseline level of fitness
Physical Therapy
- Manual therapy and joint mobilization to improve range of motion
- Strengthening exercises to target your weak muscle groups
- Movement pattern therapy that helps address problematic movement patterns
Advanced Therapeutic Techniques
- Heat and cold therapy
- Therapeutic exercises as part of structured rehabilitation programs
Medical Management
Patients can treat most repetitive stress injuries at home with appropriate medications. Take small amounts of acetaminophen to relieve your pain. For persistent symptoms or when conservative treatment fails, consider seeking professional medical treatment.
In some specific situations, particularly for stress fractures in areas with poor blood supply or for elite athletes requiring expedited return to sport, you may want to consider surgical interventions.
What Is the Recovery Process Like?
Recovery time for repetitive stress injuries is different for each person and each situation. The following factors will determine your recovery period:
- Individual characteristics (age, health status, injury history)
- Injury severity and tissue type involved
- Treatment approach and your adherence to rehabilitation
Most overuse injuries in adolescents last less than three weeks, though again, this is only a generality. Full recovery means a return to pre-injury strength levels and comfortable sport engagement, and sometimes, this means waiting out the rest of the sports season.
When Should Athletes Seek Professional Treatment?
Seek medical evaluation for any of the following symptoms:
- Persistent pain lasting more than a few days
- Pain that worsens with activity or doesn’t improve with rest
- Swelling, numbness, or decreased function
- Pain interfering with daily activities or sleep
The earlier you get medical help, the better your chances of a fast and full recovery.
Why Choose Long Island Spine Rehabilitation Medicine?
Long Island Spine Rehabilitation Medicine specializes in comprehensive, non-surgical treatment of sports-related repetitive stress injuries, with physiatrists who combine traditional evidence-based treatments with innovative approaches to optimize your recovery. We treat you as a complete person, considering your sport, goals, and lifestyle in developing your personalized treatment plan.
Don’t let repetitive stress injuries sideline your athletic pursuits. Contact Long Island Spine Rehabilitation Medicine today for a comprehensive evaluation and treatment that addresses your immediate needs and your long-term athletic goals.