Over the next few articles we will be discussing what structures may get injured, how we look at them and treat them.

I will attempt to uncomplicate the process and hopefully make it understandable and useful to the club trainer who may have been volunteered for the job and have little experience.

I believe the first thing we all must realize is what our individual limitations are as far as injury management is concerned. Some of the very basic treatments may be carried out by the trainer, but the most important responsibility we have to our player is to make sure he or she gets professional advice as soon as possible.

Hopefully these articles will help to make decisions which will get our players the appropriate treatment to expedite their recovery and get them back to the playing field as quickly as possible.

In this article we will discuss what the structures are, their basic function and how they get injured.

What do we injure?

Skin
An often-overlooked structure the skin is very often injured in soccer, and performance can be affected. Anyone who has bought a new pair of boots and got blisters will tell you how injured skin can affect performance. Sliding can also cause abrasions, but thank goodness, we do not play on carpet so often now and abrasions are less frequent.

Bones
The bones of the body are the hard tissues, which form the skeletal levers, which allow movement of the body. The bones have articulations, the joints, so that movement is produced. Bones can break and joints can dislocate.

Muscles/Tendons
The muscles are the body’s motors. They have the ability to contract when correctly stimulated. In order to move a bone a muscle needs to connect to it. In order for this to happen the muscle has to merge with the bone via the tendon. The end of the muscle becomes tendon and joins the bone. Therefore if the muscle contracts it pulls on the tendon, thereby moving the bone. We can tear muscles or tendons, we can strain (pull) a muscle and we can inflame a tendon causing a tendonitis.

Ligaments
Ligaments are structures that stabilize joints. They also have another very important function in that they have receptors, which are important in maintaining balance. They run across joints and attach bone to bone. If a ligament becomes lax or torn it may cause the joint to become unstable. Serious ligament injuries can be career ending, but over the last few years major advances in repair and reconstruction have increased the chances of full recovery.

Nerves
Nerves relay messages from the brain to the muscles causing the contraction. They also transmit pain messages from the peripheries to the brain. They also have many much more complicated functions, but we will limit our discussions to the simpler tasks. Nerves may be cut, but more often in soccer they are contused.

We will also discuss

• Head injuries which are pretty common
• Planning for the catastrophic injury which thankfully is rare
• To stretch or not to stretch and if so how do we stretch.

Hopefully after we have finished we will be able to apply a little logic to what we do to injuries or if possible how to prevent them. Please remember however that we should not attempt to do anything beyond our training and expertise. Always try to get the player to a professional for advice.