Just about everyone can benefit from exercise—especially if they currently are getting very little or no physical activity. Playing sports is a great way to make exercise fun and engaging, but playing and participating in sports can put you at risk for certain musculoskeletal system injuries.

According to The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), sports injuries sideline millions of people each year. The most common sports injuries include:

• Achilles tendon injuries—This injury is most common in sports that involve a lot of running due to the stress that running puts on the Achilles tendon.
• Broken bones—Bones can break due to chronic stress and sudden forces being applied to them. Almost any sport can cause broken bones.
• Dislocations—Contact sports are known for causing dislocations, which involve the ends of bones being forcefully moved out of their normal positions.
• Jumper's knee—Basketball, volleyball, and other sports that involve frequent and high-impact jumping can cause this condition, which involves inflammation to the tissue connecting the kneecap and thigh muscles to the shin.
• Little League elbow—When children and adolescents put too much stress on their elbows, often from throwing balls, they can develop inflammation in their growth plates. Although adults can also experience this injury, it's most common in children and can become a chronic condition. 
• Rotator cuff injuries—Generating force using your shoulder can put stress on your rotator cuff. Eventually, that stress can cause it to tear. Rotator cuff injuries are common in swimming, tennis, baseball and weightlifting. 
• Sprains—Sprains are stretches or tears of ligaments near joints, such as the knee, ankle, or wrist. They're typically caused by falls or twisting motions that go beyond the normal range of motion. Sprains can occur in almost any sport. 
• Strains—Strains are different from sprains because they affect muscles rather than ligaments. Strains happen in sports that involve running, jumping, or lifting, and they're more likely to occur in cold weather than in warm weather. 
• Tennis elbow—Overuse of the elbow causes tennis elbow, which is the result of inflammation of tendons in the elbow. As the name implies, it's common in tennis, but can occur from playing other sports as well, including golf. 

Participating in sports when you are in poor physical shape leads to major injuries. The National Library of Medicine cites accidents, poor training practices, using improper gear and failure to warm up and stretch before playing as the major causes of sports injuries.

There are two types of sports injuries, and each has a different cause. Acute sports injuries occur when the force of impact generated while playing a sport is greater than the body can withstand. Chronic sports injuries occur when overuse of muscles, bones, tendons, joints and ligaments causes them to degrade and become less capable of withstanding stress and impact related to sports. 

Adults and children hoping to avoid common sports injuries should do the following:

• Take time off to rest and recover
• Wear the right gear and safety equipment
• Strengthen muscles used in sports
• Stretch to increase flexibility 
• Use proper technique
• Take breaks during competition and play
• Stop playing when you experience pain

Running, whether it's low-impact jogging or high-intensity sprinting, is a great way to boost your cardiovascular function and health, lose weight, and stay in shape. However, it can also be hard on your muscles, joints and bones. 

Some common injuries that can occur while running include:

• Iliotibial (IT) band friction syndrome—The IT band is a length of fibrous tissue that connects the gluteus muscles to the shin. Weak gluteus muscles are a common cause of this injury, and it's more common in women due to their wider hips, which place greater stress on the IT band.
• Runner's knee—Runner's knee can be caused by a weakness or imbalance of the thigh muscles, flat feet, and abnormal alignment of the leg bones. All of these issues can put excessive pressure on the kneecap, which can wear down the cartilage underneath it, resulting in pain and tenderness. 
• Stress fracture—The repetitive pounding of the toes, feet, and legs on hard surfaces while running can cause small breaks in bones in those areas, which are called stress fractures. Although mild at first, stress fractures can eventually result in bones breaking completely.

Sports medicine specialists are essential when it comes to preventing injuries related to sports. The specialists at Union Health can help you deal with the following:

• Educating and counseling coaches, administrators and family members on sports-related medical issues
• Injury prevention, assessment and management
• Pre-participation physical examinations
• Return to play decisions for injured athletes
• Strength training and conditioning