Understanding Sports Injuries
Not Every Sports Injury Happens the Same Way
Sports injuries generally fall into two broad categories.
Acute Injuries
Acute injuries happen when there is a clear event.
You roll an ankle.
You plant and twist your knee.
You collide with another player.
You fall.
You feel something pull while sprinting.
You hurt your back during a lift.
With these injuries, the mechanism matters.
We want to know how the body moved, whether there was contact, whether you could continue playing, whether there was immediate swelling, and whether you heard or felt a pop.
Overuse Injuries
Overuse injuries may develop gradually without one obvious moment.
A knee begins hurting after several practices.
A shoulder gets sore every time you throw.
An Achilles feels tight every morning.
Your back is fine until training.
Your hip hurts after you run.
These problems often involve the relationship between workload and what the body can currently tolerate.
Common Factors We Evaluate
Acute TraumaTwists, falls, collisions, sudden pulls, or other high-force events may require closer evaluation. | Training LoadPractice, lifting, conditioning, games, and competition all add stress to the body. |
Strength & ControlPain can improve before strength, stability, and movement control are fully restored. | Movement MechanicsThe way you run, jump, land, cut, throw, squat, or lift can help us understand what is limiting function. |
Soft Tissue & CompensationWhen one area is not doing its job well, surrounding tissues may begin picking up extra work. | RecoveryThe amount of rest and recovery between training sessions can influence how much workload your body is able to tolerate. |
The finish line is not “It doesn’t hurt today.” The finish line is “My body can handle what my sport requires.”
How We Evaluate Sports Injuries
Your evaluation begins with your story.
What happened?
When did it happen? What sport do you play? What position or event? What does your normal training week look like? Did your workload recently change? What can you still do? What can you no longer do comfortably?
Then we evaluate how the injured area and surrounding movement system are functioning.
01. Listen
We learn how the injury started, what demands your sport places on your body, what activities currently aggravate the problem, and what you are trying to return to.
02. Evaluate
Depending on the injury, we may assess:
Range of motion
Orthopedic findings
Muscle strength
Neurological function when appropriate
Joint stability
Soft-tissue function
Hip, knee, ankle, shoulder, or spine movement
Squatting
Lunging
Single-leg control
Running
Sport-specific movement
Side-to-side differences
03. Measure Function, Not Just Pain
Pain is useful information. But pain is not our only scoreboard.
An athlete may feel much better and still have:
Weakness
Restricted movement
Poor control
Instability
A major difference between sides
Symptoms during sport-specific loading
That matters when deciding whether someone is ready to return.
04. Treat & Reassess
When treatment is appropriate, we address the findings that appear relevant and then retest.
Did range of motion change?
Did strength improve?
Did the painful movement become easier?
Can you tolerate more sport-specific movement?
That response helps guide what happens next.
How We May Treat Sports Injuries
Your Treatment Plan Should Fit Your Sport
Chiropractic Care | Soft-Tissue Care & Active Release Techniques | Rehabilitation | When Activity Should Be Modified | When Imaging or Referral May Be Needed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Chiropractic care may be one component of treatment when joint motion or spinal mechanics appear relevant to the injury. If a joint is not moving the way we expect and joint treatment is appropriate, we may address it and then reassess. Chiropractic care is one tool within a broader sports-injury plan. | Athletic movement requires muscles and other tissues to lengthen, shorten, stabilize, absorb force, and transfer force. When soft-tissue dysfunction appears to be part of the problem, we may use Active Release Techniques or other hands-on approaches. ART allows us to work specifically with individual tissues using precise contact and controlled movement. The goal is not to randomly dig into whatever hurts. The goal is to identify which tissues are not functioning well and determine whether improving their movement changes the problem. | Rehabilitation is where we rebuild the athlete. Depending on the injury and sport, rehabilitation may involve:
The destination determines the rehabilitation. A runner needs to tolerate running. A volleyball player needs to tolerate jumping and landing. A soccer player needs to tolerate running and cutting. A lifter needs to tolerate load. The program should progressively resemble the demands of the sport you are returning to. | Not every injury requires complete rest. Sometimes we can modify activity while you recover. You may be able to participate in practice while temporarily removing jumping, running, throwing, or another aggravating movement. But there are also times when continuing to test an irritated area every day keeps recovery from moving forward. The decision depends on the injury, symptoms, function, and how your body responds to workload. | Not every sports injury needs an X-ray or MRI. But imaging or referral may become more appropriate when we are concerned about:
Sometimes conservative care is appropriate. Sometimes the examination tells us we need more information before continuing. |
Build Function & Capacity
Build an Athlete Who Can Handle the Sport
One of the concepts we use frequently at McBrearty is the Capacity Bucket.
Imagine the area of your body that is bothering you has a bucket representing how much stress it can currently tolerate.
Work puts stress into it.
Exercise puts stress into it.
Sports, yardwork, lifting, sitting, and other activities all add demand.
When the total demand repeatedly exceeds your current capacity, symptoms may appear.
Sometimes the movement that hurt was not the entire problem.
It may simply have been the last thing added to a bucket that was already nearly full.
The goal is not to avoid activity forever.
The goal is to build a bigger bucket.
Treatment can help restore movement and calm symptoms.
We want you to progress from:
Whether your goal is working comfortably, returning to the gym, running, golfing, lifting, playing sports, or simply moving through the day without constantly thinking about your back, we want your body prepared to handle it.
FAQ
What types of sports injuries do you evaluate?
We evaluate many musculoskeletal problems involving areas such as the back, neck, shoulders, elbows, hips, knees, ankles, feet, muscles, and tendons.
The first step is determining whether the injury appears appropriate for conservative care or whether imaging, medical evaluation, or another specialist is needed.
Do I have to stop playing my sport if I am injured?
Not automatically.
Sometimes activity can be modified while you recover.
In other situations, continued practice repeatedly exceeds the tissue’s current capacity and a true period away from the aggravating activity makes more sense.
The decision should be based on the injury and your response, not a universal rule.
How do you decide when an athlete can return to play?
Pain is one piece of the decision.
We also look at movement, strength, control, neurological function when relevant, and the athlete’s ability to tolerate progressively more sport-specific activity.
Feeling better and being ready are not always the same thing.
Can chiropractic care help sports injuries?
Chiropractic care may be part of treatment when joint motion or musculoskeletal function is relevant to the injury.
At McBrearty, it is integrated with evaluation, soft-tissue treatment, rehabilitation, and progression back to activity rather than used as the same stand-alone treatment for every athlete.
What is Active Release Techniques?
Active Release Techniques is a hands-on soft-tissue approach that combines precise contact with controlled movement of a specific tissue.
We use ART when the examination suggests that soft-tissue dysfunction is contributing to the injury.
What is the Capacity Bucket?
The Capacity Bucket is a teaching model used to explain how much physical stress the body can currently tolerate.
Training fills the bucket.
Competition fills it.
Recovery creates room.
Progressive training helps build a bigger bucket.
When workload repeatedly exceeds current capacity, symptoms may appear.
Do sports injuries always need an MRI?
No.
Imaging decisions depend on the injury, mechanism, examination findings, and whether the result would change management.
Some injuries can be managed conservatively, while others require X-rays, MRI, or specialist referral.
Do you work with youth athletes?
Yes.
With youth athletes, we pay particular attention to total workload, recovery, participation on multiple teams or in multiple sports, and safe progression back to activity.
The total schedule matters, not just the individual practice or game.
What if I may have a concussion?
A possible concussion is not treated like a routine muscle or joint injury.
Athletes with a suspected concussion require appropriate medical evaluation and should return to sport only with healthcare-provider approval and an appropriate stepwise return-to-play process.
