TERESA DULAC
SPORTS EDITOR
Playing a sport is great, but it always comes with one thing: injuries. If you are an athlete who has never experienced an injury that came from your sport, you are lucky and rare. Injuries just come with the territory.
One of the most common body parts to be injured is the knee. A knee injury is a rough injury for an athlete to sustain, especially if it puts you into a knee brace. Most people have done their time in a knee brace, suffering from a range of knee-related injuries.
The knee is the most commonly injured joint by athletes because it is regularly used in most sports.
Hurting your knee is different than hurting other parts of the body. The knee is used constantly, not just in sports but in everyday life, and affects much more than you would realize. Walking, bending and sitting are compromised without the knee. Simply getting up from a chair is difficult.
With sports, it’s common to hear phrases like “a torn ACL” or “ripped meniscus.” These injuries are common in professional and recreational athletes of many different sports and can often lead to surgery, which can put an athlete out of the game for months.
Knee injuries mostly occur in sports when there is a lack of warm-up, overuse of the knee, poor training techniques, impact and, of course, just bad knees.
It’s easier than it should be to hurt your knee, and since the knee is such an important part of the body, it takes longer than other injuries to recover from.
Another reason why knee injuries are terrible is that they are hard to deal with both physically and mentally.
Physically, knee injuries are a pain. Not just a pain as in painful, but as in it’s difficult to get from one place to another. If you’re put into a knee brace, it’s large and awkward, and simple things like sitting down are a process.
A knee injury often brings a harder and longer recovery that can be quite physically painful.
Mentally, a knee injury can do its damage. After you have hurt your knee, there is always the haunting fear of hurting it again. An athlete could feel nervous while running or scared to push themselves too hard. Once you’ve hurt your knee, you can always hurt it again.
The simple thought of planting a foot wrong, and twisting a knee sends shivers down the spine.
A knee injury can last a lifetime. Even after recovery, the knee will never be the same.
An athlete is typically a very active and ready person, and an injury that puts a halt to a vigorous lifestyle can be a big discouragement. It’s important to remember that the worst part of any injury is only temporary and to buckle down into recovery, knowing that you’ll be using stairs instead of elevators soon enough.
As a girl whose knee put her through surgery once stated, “Life would be better without knees.”