Medically reviewed by Sean J. Meredith, MD
Understanding why overuse injuries occur and how to prevent them is crucial for staying active and enjoying the activities you love for the long haul.
What Is an Overuse Injury?
Overuse injuries include a range of conditions that develop gradually from repetitive stress on your muscles, ligaments, tendons, and bones.
Unlike acute injuries, overuse injuries result from repetitive trauma that your body doesn’t have sufficient time to repair. An acute injury typically comes on suddenly, often due to a twist or direct blow. Overuse injuries, on the other hand, develop gradually, with the pain often starting off mild and progressively worsening over weeks or months.
Common Overuse Injuries
- Muscle strains: Also called pulled muscles, these injuries happen when muscle fibers are overstretched or torn. This can happen due to sudden movements during sports or exercise, overexertion or improper muscle use. Common examples include hamstrings and calf muscle strains.
- Tendonitis: This is an inflammation of a tendon, the tough, fibrous cord that connects muscle to bone. It can affect various areas, such as your Achilles tendon at your ankle. If you have tendonitis in your elbow, this is called tennis or golfer’s elbow, depending on the specific area affected. Repetitive jumping, such as in basketball, can cause irritation of the patellar tendon in the front of your knee, which is called jumper’s knee. If you have tendonitis, you’ll notice pain and swelling in the affected area that gets worse with activity.
- Stress fractures: These tiny cracks in a bone are caused by repetitive stress and impact. They are common in weight-bearing bones, such as your lower leg and feet. With a stress fracture, you may feel pain that gradually gets worse when you’re active. Pain can be quite severe with stress fractures and typically will make you stop running or jumping because of the pain. It is very important to see an orthopedic or sports medicine doctor to prevent this problem from worsening due to repetitive injury.
- Shin splints: This overuse injury, common among runners, may be caused by inflammation of the muscles that run along the sides of your shins.
- Heel pain: This is a very common issue, often stemming from plantar fasciitis, an inflammation of the thick band of tissue that runs along the bottom of your foot, which connects your heel bone to your toes. Stretching exercises are very effective for treating this problem.
Risk Factors for Overuse Injuries
You’re at a higher risk of developing an overuse injury if you engage in sports that require repetitive movements of the same body part, such as hitting a baseball or pivoting on your knee with pickleball. You can also get these types of injuries if you don’t rest between playing or aren’t trained in proper technique. Recognizing these risk factors is the first step in proactive injury prevention.
6 Tips to Prevent Overuse Injuries
Lowering your risk begins with understanding your risk factors and learning how to modify these factors.
- Warm up and cool down. Prepare your body for activity by stretching and lightly moving it with exercises that target the body parts you’ll be using during the activity. After exercise, cool down with stretches to improve flexibility and reduce muscle stiffness.
- Watch out for aches and pain. This is one of the most important parts of prevention. Pay attention to any aches, pain and swelling. Don’t try to push through any unusual discomfort.
- Learn proper form. Incorrect form during exercise or sports places excessive stress on your muscles, tendons, ligaments, and joints. Before beginning a workout or sport, work with a coach or trainer to ensure you are using proper technique.
- Wear the right gear: Ensure you are using properly fitting protective gear and shoes. For example, worn-out or ill-fitting shoes can cause heel and knee pain.
- Get adequate rest. Allow your body to recover with sufficient time between sports sessions. Playing the same sport or doing the same exercise every day of the week puts you at increased risk of injury. This also includes getting enough sleep, which is crucial for tissue repair.
- Stay hydrated. Staying well-hydrated helps maintain tissue elasticity. Be sure to drink enough fluids before and during activity and consider adding electrolytes for additional nutrients.
Treating Overuse Injuries
If you have symptoms of an overuse injury, visit your local urgent care, primary care or orthopedist as soon as possible. Ignoring the signs can lead to prolonged pain, time away from your favorite sport, and potentially chronic issues, such as ongoing pain or limited mobility.
Overuse injuries often heal on their own, with at-home treatments like rest, over-the-counter pain relievers and anti-inflammatory medications. However, a doctor needs to evaluate your injury to determine if you need physical therapy or a higher level of treatment.
Injections into the injured area, such as steroids or platelet-rich plasma (PRP), can reduce inflammation and swelling to aid recovery.
Your doctor may recommend surgery if your overuse injury is severe and not improving with the other treatments.