Sports-related orthopaedic conditions involve injuries to your musculoskeletal system. These injuries may affect your bones, joints, ligaments, muscles, nerves, tendons and other tissues.

The most common types of sports-related orthopaedic conditions include: 

• Broken bones (fractures): Bones can break during a one-time injury (acute fracture) or repetitive stress (stress fracture). 
• Bursitis: Inflammation of the fluid-filled sacs (bursae) that cushion your bones and other tissue can occur suddenly or due to repeated movement. 
• Dislocations: These injuries occur when two bones forming a joint move out of place. 
• Sprains: Sprains occur when connective tissue joining the ends of bones (ligaments) stretches or tears. 
• Strains and tears: Strains occur when your muscle or tissue that connects your muscle to bone (tendon) stretches or tears. 
• Tendonitis: This condition happens when your tendons become inflamed, often due to repetitive movement. Impingement, which can be a form of tendonitis, happens when bones in your shoulder rub against your rotator cuff during certain motions.

Orthopaedic conditions related to sports can result from a one-time incident (acute injury) or repetitive movement (chronic injury). The main causes of sports injuries include:

• Accidents
• Falls cause many sports injuries.
• Impact
• Contact with other players or sports equipment often results in injury.
• Improper sports equipment
• Having damaged gear, inadequate safety equipment or poorly fitted shoes may lead to injury.
• Lack of training
• Not stretching or warming up adequately, or being out of practice, can lead to sports-related orthopaedic conditions.
• Overuse
• Using the same joints or muscles repeatedly increases the chance of injury.

Our knowledgeable providers at UC Davis Health specialize in diagnosing sports injuries. We first ask you about your symptoms and how the injury occurred. Then we perform a thorough physical examination, focusing on the area of injury.

We may recommend imaging tests, such as a X-ray, ultrasound, CT scan or MRI if we suspect an orthopaedic injury. These tests give us more information about the best way to treat your specific injury. 

At the UC Davis Sports Medicine Program, we specialize in offering personalized care for people with all types of sports injuries, from routine to complex. Our compassionate team of experts aims to eliminate pain and help you get back to an active lifestyle. Treatments we offer include:

You can lower your risk for sports injuries by: 

• Changing up your routine
• Drinking plenty of water to stay hydrated
• Playing in safe conditions
• Practicing proper techniques for your sport
• Resting when you’re tired
• Staying away from sports with high risk of collision or impact
• Using proper sports gear
• Warming up before activity

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