What is an Overuse Injury? Overuse injuries refer to injuries sustained from a repeated action (such as repetitive strain injury) as opposed to acute injuries, which occur in an instant (such as a sprained ankle). Overuse Injuries Can Occur to the Following Structures: 1. Tendons: tendinopathies 2. Muscle-tendon structures (e.g. tennis elbow) 3. Soft tissue compartments (e.g. compartment syndrome) 4., Periosteum cartilage, which is the covering of the bone (e.g. shin splints) 5. Bursa (e.g. bursitis) 6. Nerve tissue (e.g. neural mechanosensitivity) 7. Bone (e.g. stress fractures). Exercise applies stress to the body. Your body adapts by thickening and strengthening the various tissues involved. Hence, muscles get stronger, firmer and sometimes larger, tendons get stronger and bone density increases. However, if exercise is applied in such a way that adaptation cannot occur, the excessive overload can cause microscopic injuries, leading to inflammation, which is the body's response to injury. Signs of Overuse or Inflammation include: 1. Swelling (which may be unnoticeable) 2. Warmth to the touch 3. Redness 4. Impaired function of the part. What Causes Overuse Injuries? 1. Lack of appropriate muscle strength or endurance 2. Poor core stability 3. Muscle imbalance (strong tight muscles versus weak stretched muscles) 4. Inflexibility Malalignment or Biomechanical issues (e.g. flat foot, squinting patellae) Training errors Faulty technique Incorrect equipment. By far the most common cause of overuse injury is training errors. Moreover, the most common error is "too much, too soon". Common Treatments for Overuse Injuries The two most important steps in the management of overuse (inflammation) injury are: 1. Remove cause 2. Reduce inflammation 3. Carefully return to activity as the symptoms dictate. Professional assessment and guidance is highly recommended for overuse injuries. Not only are you repairing acute symptoms you are also aiming to avoid its recurrence once your training resumes. Physiotherapy works best on overuse injuries.