This week sees the start of the 48th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships. Running from the 25th October to the 3rd November 2018, this years World Championships will be held in Doha (Qatar) and feature both Men and Women's Artistic Gymnastic competitions. With this is mind we're looking at some common injuries seen within the sport - focusing particularly on ankle sprain swelling.
The ancient Greeks believed gymnastics was the perfect symmetry between the mind and body. "Artistic gymnastics" appeared in the early 1800's and used a free-flowing style - very different to more common techniques used in military training at the time. With its growth in popularity, it was then introduced at the Olympic Games in Athens in 1896 and has been present at every Games since then. In the early days of artistic gymnastics, participants often had a background in dance and many of the gymnasts were trained specifically in the sport from childhood. In modern Artistic gymnastics, athletes perform short routines (ranging from approximately 30 to 90 seconds) on different apparatuses including:
VAULT, FLOOR, POMMEL , HORSE, STILL RINGS, PARALLEL BAR, HIGH BAR, UNEVEN BARS, BALANCE BEAM
INJURIES...
In such a demanding sport, the chances of incurring a muscle injury are high. Here are the top 7 most common gymnastic injuries:
Wrist & Ankle Sprains ACL Injuries Achilles Tendonitis Herniated Disks Lower-Back Injuries
The most common type of ankle sprain is an inversion sprain, where the ankle rolls outward and the foot rolls inward, damaging the ligaments on the outside of the ankle. Eversion sprains occur when the ankle rolls inward, stretching or tearing the ligaments. These ankle injuries commonly happen during running or jumping in gymnastics, but can also happen when simply missing a step, tripping or landing awkwardly. If you suspect an ankle sprain, recommendations from therapists include using ice and, traditionally, strapping the ankle tightly with non-elastic athletic tape. However, this type of tape can usually only be worn for short periods of time. As Kinesio Tape is thin, lightweight and flexible it can be worn for days at a time to aid recovery. In the early stages of an ankle injury, the tape can help to reduce swelling. When returning to activity it can then be used to provide support - without restricting range of motion. Check out the ankle taping example in this post.
You can cut the fan shape from a standard 5cm roll using the guidelines on the back - or you can buy pre-cut Kinesio Fan tape (come in a mix pack of 12 strips).
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