Southwest Florida's Health and Wellness Magazine Health and Wellness Articles
By James M. Ray, MD
Like most racket sports, pickleball comes with traumatic as well as overuse injuries.
Some pickleball injuries are avoidable, others happen because of court trauma.
When they do occur, you can get the treatment you need to get back on the court and enjoy all that pickleball offers. These injuries result in down time for recovery before you can return to play.
Acute pickleball injuries occur from falls, twists, deceleration and cutting activities involving the knees, ankles, wrists, hands, elbows, and shoulders.
Others are chronic, which happen over time, due to overuse.
Most are active players are age 60 years or older, and account for many pickleball-related emergency room visits.
Preparticipation precautions can help lower your chances of injury. Most of these principles were learned through our active athletic years but still hold true today.
• Warm up and stretch before playing. Important to prevent muscle strains and ligament sprains.
• Watch for gym bags, rackets, towels, water bottles, moveable benches/chairs on or around the court that could cause trips or falls.
• Avoid courts that may not be in the best repair, or wet becoming, slippery making foot activity difficult to decelerate and cut.
• Avoid backpedaling (moving backward) which may add to proprioception instability, dizziness, and loss of balance on the court resulting in a fall.
• Communicate with your partner, avoid confusion, maintain spacing during play, watch tripping or running into each other.
• Know your body, hydrate often and rest when fatigued. The majority of injuries occur when tired, winded or out of shape.
• Strains – A strain results from overstretching or tearing muscles or tendons. Hamstrings are commonly strained if warm-up before playing is inadequate.
• Sprains – An ankle sprain involves an injury to a lateral ligament to the outside of the ankle. Pain is usually felt on the outside of the ankle. Depending upon the severity, swelling may be immediate. Discoloration may not immediately present over the area of injury but will delineate the ligament injury.
• Fractures – The most common fracture is of the wrist. The mechanism of injury is from falling on an outstretched arm landing on the hand. Going backward for a ball, or falling forward, positioning the arm to break the fall results in the fracture. Osteoporosis also plays a role in the fracture severity.
Returning to play in the case of pickleball injuries is important to understand to prevent reinjury. Less severe injuries like mild muscle (hamstring) strains, players can return to pickleball after a few weeks of rest and stretching activities. Severe strains may take longer to heal and extend the down time before return. Ankle sprains also may take 3-6 weeks of recovery time before returning to play. Fractures need to be completely healed, no pain with function and full range of motion before return. Bracing may also help with returning to athletic activities.
If medical treatment was implemented after injury, listening to your doctor or health care professional during recovering is important. When you do return to playing, take it slow. Our Medical/Orthopedic/Sports Medicine Experts at Naples-Clinic can care for your acute pickleball injuries, including your chronic injuries, and help you with return to play issues. Naples-Clinic Offers Walk-in Medical and Ortho Urgent Care. To learn more, or schedule an appointment, or walk-in call 239-384-9392.
James M. Ray, MD
James M. Ray, MD is an orthopedic surgeon who graduated Medical School in 1979 from Louisiana State University. Dr. Ray trained in Orthopedic Surgery at Orlando Health, Orlando, Florida. He was a Sports Medicine Fellow at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He was also an Academic Physician as an Assistant Professor of Orthopedics/
Sports Medicine at the University of Kentucky, Lexington. He has a master’s degree in Executive Health Administration from the University of Florida, Gainesville. He has traveled with numerous Sports Teams Nationally and Internationally. He is now interested in treatment and management of Orthopedic injuries, arthritis, and chronic problems limiting function. He specializes in Quality-of-life issues using IV therapies, biologic injectables and immune boost treatments.
Ortho Urgent Care
7385 Radio Road; Ste., 104, Naples FL 34104
(239) 384-9392
www.Naples-Clinic.com