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Common Injuries in Athletics
Anatomy of the Thigh
The thigh is made up of the femur bone, which connects to the knee at the bottom and to the hip at the top of the bone. The thigh contains three major muscle groups: anterior (quadriceps), posterior (hamstrings), and medial (adductor). These muscles need to be very strong to bear the weight of the body and move the heavy upper and lower parts of the leg.
Common Injuries
- Contusions - Thigh contusion.
- Common in football, hockey, soccer, and wrestling.
Caused by direct impact to thigh muscle group.
Symptoms - Direct pain over area, swelling, bruising, and some loss of muscle function. - Strains - Thigh and hamstring strains.
- Common in any running or jumping sports like basketball, football, track, wrestling,
baseball, or softball.
Caused by a sudden stretch in the muscles of the thigh or hamstring or a forceful contraction.
Symptoms - Pain over area of strain, muscle spasm, loss of function, and may have some skin bruising from internal bleeding.
- Fracture - Femur fracture.
- Common in contact sports such as football and hockey.
Caused by a great force, such as falling from a height or getting struck directly on the thigh.
Symptoms - Pain over fracture sight, severe pain with weight bearing, swelling, and possible deformity.
- Stress Fracture - Femoral stress fracture.
- Common in sports that involve downhill jumping or running, such as cross country
and track.
Caused by excessive and repetitive downhill running over a long period.
Symptoms - Persistent pain in the thigh and pain before, after, and during exercise.
Anatomy of the Hip, Groin, and Pelvis
The pelvis makes up the hip and groin region of the body and is divided into two innominate bones, which are in turn each divided into three bones: illium, ischium, and pubis. Both sides of the body have a set of these bones. The three bones are fused together to form the pelvis. The pelvis attaches to the spine at the sacroiliac joint on the posterior aspect of the pelvis, where the sacral region of the spine attaches to the pelvis. The joint is held together by a number of ligaments.
Another joint in the pelvis is the hip joint, which is where the femur attaches to the pelvis. The femur is held in the hip joint by a number of ligaments and muscles. There are a number of small muscles attaching the hip and allowing for small movements of the hip, such as internal and external rotation, flexion, and extension. Along with the smaller muscles, the quad and hamstring muscles allow for movements of the hip such as hip flexion and extension.
Common Injuries
- Strains
- Strains of the groin, hip flexors, and hip extensors.
Common in running and jumping sports, most often track, football, and soccer.
Caused by running, jumping, or twisting the upper leg and hip in a forceful manner.
Symptoms - Pain, weakness, and internal bleeding causing bruising.
- Sprains
- Sprains of the hip joint.
Common in football, soccer, and wrestling.
Caused by a violent twist of the hips as a result of an impact force or when the foot is planted and the upper body is forcefully twisted in an opposing direction.
- Dislocation
- Subluxed hip joint.
Most common in football and other contact sports.
Caused as the end result of a direct force along the long axis of the femur bone, usually when the knee is bent.
Symptoms - Leg sitting in abnormal position, deformity may be present, severe pain, and loss of leg function.
- Contusion
- Hip Pointer.
Common in any contact sport, most often football.
Caused by a direct blow to the iliac crest of the hip.
Symptoms - Immediate pain, spasms, bruising, swelling, and some loss of function.
- Stress Fracture
- Stress fractures of the pelvis.
Most common in cross country and track.
Caused by repetitive cyclical forces created by ground reaction forces when the foot strikes the ground over and over again.
Symptoms - Pain in the groin, aching sensation in thigh that increases with activity and decreases with rest. Point tender over area of stress fracture.
