Acute injuries occur suddenly, such as when a person falls, gets hit, or twists a joint, while chronic injuries are usually the result of overuse of an area of the body (repetitive overload) and develop gradually over time. An acute injury occurs suddenly (and often quite dramatically). You could get a bruise, break a bone or tear a muscle. The soft tissues that are most commonly injured are muscles, tendons, and the ligaments.
These injuries usually occur during sports and exercise activities, but sometimes simple everyday activities can result in an injury. Bruises occur when a direct blow (or repeated blows) with a blunt object hits a part of the body and crushes the underlying muscle fibers and connective tissue without breaking the skin. A contusion can be the result of a fall or a body jam against a hard surface. Skin discoloration is due to blood pooling around the lesion.
Tendinitis is inflammation or irritation of a tendon or the covering of a tendon (called a sheath). It is caused by a series of small tensions that repeatedly aggravate the tendon. Symptoms often include swelling and pain that worsen with activity. Small tears in the Achilles tendon cause it to swell and thicken.
Tendinitis can be treated with rest to eliminate stress, anti-inflammatory medications, steroid injections, splints, and exercises to correct muscle imbalance and improve flexibility. Persistent inflammation can cause significant damage to the tendon, which may require surgery. Bursitis is an inflammation of a bursa. Repeated small efforts and overuse can cause the bag to become swollen.
Many people experience bursitis in association with tendonitis. Sports injuries are common muscle, bone, or soft tissue injuries that occur during physical activities. They include sprains, sprains and fractures, injuries that usually heal in weeks or months, and longer-lasting conditions, such as tendonitis. Overtraining, falls, and bumps into things are common causes.
Many sports injuries can be cured at home, but it's important to have a rehabilitation plan. Overload injuries occur when the body is forced to reach levels higher than it is currently able to withstand. A long-distance runner who begins to feel constant pain is likely to have an overuse injury. You may have tried too hard or too quickly with your routine, or your feet may be enduring the repetitive impacts of running without enough rest time to recover properly.
Injuries such as Achilles tendonitis and stress fractures (e.g., fine cracks on the surface of a bone) are often identified as overuse injuries. Sports injuries are the types of injuries that usually occur when you play a sport or do something athletic. It is a type of acute injury affecting the connective tissue in the joints that connects bones to bones or cartilage. Today's medicine has many options for nearly every type of injury, and those affecting the knees are no exception.