Basketball is a sport that challenges your limits-from sprinting up and down the court, to guarding your opponent, to passing and shooting the ball from a variety of distances and positions.
Unfortunately, painful injuries like tendonitis are common conditions that affect even the most seasoned athletes, bringing your game to a grinding halt.
Injuries can be stressful for athletes. Expensive treatments, lengthy recovery times, and tight game schedules can leave many players feeling unsure of where to turn. While accidents happen, they don’t have to mark the end of your journey. Airrosti providers can guide you through the recovery process and give you the tools needed to address problems as they appear, helping you return to pain-free activity.
Prevalence Of Tendonitis In Basketball Players
Basketball players, like all athletes, go through a variety of training exercises and conditioning drills to prepare them for the game.
Tendonitis can occur after sudden, sharp movements – like pivoting or quickly changing positions – or from repetitive motion that eventually wears down the tendons. Some of the most common tendonitis injuries in athletes include:
- Shoulder Tendonitis
- Biceps/Triceps Tendonitis
- Elbow Tendonitis
- Patellar Tendonitis (Jumper’s Knee)
- Achilles Tendonitis
Playing without proper conditioning usually causes or worsens tendonitis injuries.
Can I Still Play Basketball With Tendonitis?
Athletes can usually continue activity if their tendonitis symptoms are mild. However, it’s important to be cautious when exercising with an injury. The longer you ignore symptoms and try to push through the pain, the more severe your injury may become.
Tendonitis pain can also hinder your mobility and reduce athletic performance. Conditions like patellar tendonitis and Achilles’ tendonitis affect an athlete’s ability to run, jump, or pivot, while rotator cuff tendonitis and elbow tendonitis can inhibit their ability to dribble, pass, or shoot the ball.
3 Tips To Help Treat And Prevent Tendonitis
By addressing injuries at the first sign of pain, not only will you be able to return to the court faster, but you’ll also be less likely to suffer from long-term complications or injury recurrence.
1) Reduce Inflammation
Tendonitis symptoms can worsen without proper treatment, eventually causing degeneration of the tendon. Reduce irritation and inflammation through reduced activity, ice, and protecting the joint when possible. Taking steps to repair the tendon can help keep the injury from becoming a chronic source of pain.
2) Practice Range Of Motion & Strengthening Exercises
Once pain and inflammation in the tendon have subsided, you can begin rehabilitating the joint with specific exercises and stretches that can help rebuild strength and range of motion in the affected joints. Any exercises done to help rehabilitate the tendon should be applied carefully, avoiding pain or discomfort.
Practicing mobility and stability exercises regularly can help you recover faster and help keep muscular imbalances from affecting your athletic performance. Airrosti’s YouTube Channel offers an extensive playlist of mobility videos showing specific exercises that can help reduce pain associated with tendonitis and other soft-tissue injuries.
3) Add Functional Sports Training Drills To Help Prevent Future Injury
To help avoid the risk of future pain and injury, it’s best to return to the game gradually. While your strength and range of motion has returned, the time spent in recovery may have rusted some of your skills and muscle memory.
Focus on practicing functional sports-specific drills to help you gradually return to the court. For athletes focusing on lower body recovery, this may include speed drills, like sprints or skips, or agility drills like ladders and jumps. For the upper body, practice drills that help your dribbling, passing, and shooting skills.
Keep Pain Off The Court With Help From Airrosti
Whether you’re a young athlete or a professional, avoiding injuries while on the court should be your number one priority. Unfortunately, even the safest players may experience aches and pains.
If pain or injury has left you sitting on the bench, schedule an appointment with an Airrosti provider today. Our providers are singularly focused on helping patients return to pain-free activity quickly by finding and treating pain at the source. By combining hands-on manual therapy with a customized active rehab plan, we can help you get back on the court in as few as 3 visits (based on patient-reported outcomes).
Call us today at (800) 404-6050 to learn more about treatment at Airrosti or click the button below to schedule your appointment. We offer both in-office and virtual appointments to best suit your needs.
