Football is a game that requires not only incredible skill but also an off-the-charts level of fitness. Running, sprinting, jumping, and kicking are important performance components requiring maximal strength and anaerobic power of the neuromuscular system. All these occur at high intensity for over ninety minutes leading to footballers especially at the highest level, with increasingly busy match schedules, experiencing more and more injuries.
The average elite football team has around twenty-five players in a squad and will experience around eighteen injuries in a season. Though half of the injuries will be minor, between eight of nine will be severe injuries (injuries that result in absences for four weeks or more). Over one-third of all injuries are muscle-related. The majority of injuries affect four major muscle groups of the lower limbs. These are the hamstrings (37%), adductors (23%), quadriceps (19%), and calf muscles (13%). Researchers believe that this is due to insufficient recovery time. Whenever we exercise we create very minor damage to our muscles (these come in the form of tiny muscle tears). During recovery periods these tiny muscle tears are repaired naturally. This is the reason why it is believed that many footballers are experiencing ACL (anterior cruciate ligaments) injuries. Whenever muscles tears due to repeated stress increase there is a risk of muscle strain or pulled muscles.
Footballers also experience a large amount of strain on their knees when playing the game. A noted example is Ronaldo Nazário who had a medical condition called trochlear dysplasia. This medical condition combined with Ronaldo’s explosive running led to an unstable relationship between his kneecap and femur. This led to him experiencing a multitude of injuries relating to his knee. As shown in the example of Ronaldo the physical demands of football put significant strain on the musculoskeletal system. The repetitive nature of movements in football leads to an increased risk of injuries such as tendinitis, stress fractures, and as previously mentioned muscle injuries.
In addition, environmental factors greatly affect the occurrence of injuries on the football field. Environmental conditions such as certain surfaces and weather pose a significant risk of injury to players. For instance, the type of grass that players play on affects their risk of injury. This is due to the biomechanics of movement and the forces that are exerted on the player's body. Artificial turf has been associated with more injuries as opposed to natural grass due to the increased surface hardness and overall friction increase.
In recent times it has been proposed that heading the ball in football games be forbidden. This is due to a large amount of evidence that suggests the small repetitive collisions of the brain inside the skull lead to an incessant risk of dementia. Many footballers from England’s famous 1966 World Cup-winning team unfortunately now have the disease. Research has found that one particular form of dementia known as CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) is most commonly found in those who take part in routine activities where their brain undergoes regular assaults. This injury type is not only limited to football but also occurs in American football where it has been discovered that playing the game for just three and a half years apparently doubles the chances of dementia. Jeff Astle, a member of England’s 1970 football squad was rhetorical first British footballer to be confirmed to have died from CTE which is classified as an industrial injury. Even more concerning is that recent studies show that heading the ball just twenty times in football practice leads to immediate and measurable alterations to brain function. These results have been confirmed in other head studies for other sports such as mountain biking. An even more worrying result is that a large number of former footballers in Scotland are more likely to be prescribed dementia medications and have a five hundred percent higher chance of having Alzheimer’s. These findings have led to the FA (Football Federation in England) preventing heading as a part of training for children under twelve, but not banning it during matches.
Along with these these physical issues there are a large amount of mental issues that come from being injured. Many footballers reported feeling negative emotions such as sadness, anxiety or guilt after being injured. These emotions often lead to athletes forcing recovery to speed up at unrealistic speeds leading to them not fully recovering. Anxiety causes the amygdala to grow which intensifies the body’s responses to threatening situations and it also shrinks the hippocampus ( the area of the brain that plays a major role in learning and memory).
In conclusion, it can be seen that football injuries have become ever more prevalent due to a congested match schedule, a lack of reform by football federations and lastly a lack of concern for player health.
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