Recently, Viet Duc Hospital (Hanoi City) continuously receives cases of serious injuries while playing sports.

Common in young people

Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Manh Khanh – Deputy Director of Viet Duc Hospital, Head of the Hospital’s Department of Upper Extremity Surgery and Sports Medicine – told about the case of a 17-year-old male patient living in Thanh Hoa province who had just had surgery. posterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. The patient said that nearly a month ago, while playing football, he had a sharp pain in his knee when trying to run after the ball. Then, the knee area swells with stiffness. On examination, the patient was diagnosed with a knee injury.

According to Associate Professor Khanh, this is one of the patients who are diagnosed and treated at an early stage, so the risk of sequelae is low and the ability to recover from surgery is much faster. Patients are being exercised, after about 3-6 months, they can do normal activities and play sports.

Not long ago, Viet Duc Hospital also received a 24-year-old female patient whose ankle was flipped while playing badminton 2 years ago, but due to improper treatment, it led to pain and loosening of the ankle joint. swelling, affecting activities and sports. At the time of being examined by the doctors of Viet Duc Hospital, the patient was determined to have ruptured the anterior fibula ligament of the right ankle and had to undergo surgery to reconstruct the ligament. Up to now, after a period of surgery, the patient no longer has pain, stable ankle, can live and play sports normally.

Assoc. Khanh said that sports injuries usually fall between the ages of 20 and 35 (accounting for 70% – 80%). Common sports injuries are: football, volleyball, basketball, tennis, running, cycling, yoga, aerobics… Among these, there are quite a few cases of cruciate ligament injuries. This is also a fairly common injury in athletes or sports people.

“The pain of tearing the cruciate ligament comes and goes, sometimes there is a feeling that the joint is not stable when moving. Because this symptom is only transient, many people are subjective, leading to more serious problems in the future. ” – Assoc. Khanh said.

Don’t try to play when it hurts

Doctor Nguyen Huy Thiep, Department of Upper Extremity Surgery and Sports Medicine, Viet Duc Hospital, said that during the process of receiving and treating patients, doctors found that most sports injuries were brought to the hospital. hospital late. Some people have been injured for 3 months or longer, even went to the hospital to be treated with herbal medicine, apply leaves, apply cold compresses… until the disease got worse. Most of these cases require surgery and long-term rehabilitation treatment, and some people suffer from irreversible sequelae.

Many patients said that they feel hurt but are subjective and too passionate about sports to try. With loose joints, vigorous movement makes the patient aggravated with inflammation, degeneration and increased fluid secretion. In these cases, the prognosis will be early degeneration, much pain, easy limb deformity leading to bent legs, not being able to fully extend the knee or not bend the knee.

Doctors also say that for amateur sports players, 60%-70% have injuries. The main cause is due to improper startup. Before playing sports, players also do not have a deep understanding of that sport, but only feel and instinctively.

With cases of sports injuries, Doctor Thiep recommends that if the patient has an acute injury, the patient should be properly treated, including: immobilization, leg elevation, elastic bandages and ice for a medium period of time. 2-3 weeks on average will help injuries such as sprains, broken ligaments heal well, avoid recurrence, causing joint loosening, osteoarthritis later requiring surgery.

“If detected early or the damage is moderate, up to 80%-90% of patients do not need surgery but only physical therapy, rehabilitation… In fact, the incorrect treatment rate causes joint loosening. Chronic pain is still high, accounting for 20%-30% and cases of pain due to overtraining lead to muscle strains, sprains, etc. When there are signs of pain, you should rest, use pain relievers and anti-inflammatory drugs properly. symptoms will gradually decrease” – Doctor Thiep recommended.

To avoid overtraining, leading to unnecessary injuries or accidents, Assoc. Prof. Nguyen Manh Khanh advises first to clearly define the purpose of playing sports to be healthy, lose weight or gain muscle. Next, it should be based on ability and physical condition. If you are overweight or obese, you cannot play high-intensity sports such as soccer, but you should choose swimming, walking and gradually increase the exercise.

For patients with chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, blood pressure, there must be strict instructions from the doctor about the appropriate sport as well as the intensity of playing.