Common Injuries That Happen To Hockey Players

Anyone who has played or even watched a hockey match will admit that hockey is a tough game and an often brutal sport. It is a hard-hitting, collision sport where the players risk injury from high-impact collisions with one another. And there are a common set of injuries to hockey players, both in-game as well as in practice.

Players can collide with other players or they collide with the boards or even with the ice and the goal, they could be struck by the stick, the puck or even the skate.

There are injuries that can destroy careers and some that are a little too common during the game. Their backs, their knees and arms are often strained and sprained. Some of the common complaints include black eyes, broken teeth, frostbite, spinal cord injuries, broken bones, lower back problems, head trauma, neck strains and tendonitis.

Some may seem minor, but a lot of NHL players have ended their careers a little short, because of repetitive injuries caused over the years. Some injuries cause pain that can last for several years and often escalate into severely chronic problems that then call for intensive physical therapy and long-term pain management. Having to end their promising careers because of debilitating injuries can be a heavy burden to bear.

Several athletes are totally dependant medications, which eventually cause their own problems. Certain injuries to the knee are dealt with shots of cortisone that can cause an erosion of the cartilage in the knees. This can lead to a full or partial replacement of the knee when it reaches a point that tearing has started.

Physical therapists as well as massage therapist can often predict which part of the athlete's body will slowly but surely wear out. This is easy because the training as well as the game calls for frequent repetitive motion of the very same parts all the time.

Surgery is often the last option. An option taken too soon or too late, it can lead players to lose playing seasons and can even cause persistent chronic problems, becoming irksome and severely restricting the person's ability to do normal everyday activities that they have always done prior to the injury.

Though doctors often recommend early retirement, this advice is not very well received by athletes who live for the game. Even a short temporary spell of staying away from the game, which will help them eventually heal more permanently, is very difficult. However doctors have a reason for this- the body does need some time to heal from injury and allowing the body to recuperate in it's only time without resorting to pain medication is often the best route to take.