Football is a high-contact sport that carries risks of various injuries. Head injuries such as concussions have been increasing in soccer. Heading the ball poses risks especially for younger players. Spinal injuries to the cervical and lumbar spine can occur from falls or tackles, though are generally rare. Common injuries elsewhere include shoulder dislocations, groin strains, thigh muscle injuries, knee ligament tears such as ACL injuries, ankle sprains, and foot injuries from player contact or repetitive stress. Physician coverage is often required at games to address these sorts of soccer-specific injuries.

1. FOOTBALL INJURIES
Deepali Jain
MPT Sports

2.  Soccer, or football, is the world’s most popular sport.
 Football is a high-velocity contact/collision sport with
an increased risk of injury. Physician coverage for
games is optimal and often required, depending on the
level played and the league and/or state regulations.

4. HEAD INJURY
Heading
Heading is soccer-specific skill wherein the
head is used to control the ball, clear it from
defensive area, or strike it at the goal.
The risk may be higher in younger player
with weak musculature

6. Head Injuries and Concussions
The number of head injuries and concussions
has increased in NCAA soccer for both men
and women
Most players return to routine training or match
play over a seven-to-ten-day period. In
professional athletes, it is important to try to
identify players with an increased risk of a
more prolonged course at an early stage

8. SPINAL INJURIES
Cervical Spine Injury
The cervical spine is the most mobile
segment of the spine and is predisposed to
complaints brought about by wear-and-tear
phenomena
Acute injuries to the cervical spine are not
very common in football players. Pain in the
cervical spine is however a common
complaint.

10. Lumbar spine Injuries
Lumbar spine (L-Spine) injuries in football
are quite rare with an incidence of 6%.
Spine injuries and chronic low back pain are
responsible for between 15% and 22% of
premature career ending in professional
football players.

12. UPPER EXTRIMITY INJURIES
Shoulder injuries
The shoulder is one of the less common
locations for injuries to football players.
Common sporting injuries of the shoulder
include dislocations and labral pathology,
acromioclavicular joint (ACJ) injuries, rotator
cuff injuries, biceps injuries, and fractures.

14. Elbow injuries
Injuries to the elbow are not common in
football. Acute injuries are likely to occur
during games and training.
The most common injury mechanism is a fall
onto an outstretched hand or elbow. This can
cause various fracture patterns, dislocation, or
a combination of both (fracture-dislocation)

16. Wrist and Hand injuries
It is important to establish the injury
mechanism which will often suggest a
specific diagnosis.
A finger caught in opponent’s shirt might
suggest a flexor tendon injury.
A blow to the tip of a finger, by a ball or an
opponent, should prompt one to consider a
mallet finger

18. LOWER EXTRIMITY INJURIES
Hip injuries
Hip pain are relatively common complaints
among football players of all levels
Femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) is now
recognised as a disorder that can lead to
progressive labral and chondral injury in the
hip.

20. Groin Injuries
Groin injuries are among the three most
common and time-consuming injuries in
football, accounting for 8-18% of all injuries
In the vast majority of cases, groin injuries
are managed non-surgically with a period of
coordinated rehabilitation. In some situations,
surgical management can be useful, however.

22. Thigh muscle injuries
Thigh muscle injuries occur frequently as a
result of contusions, and as muscle strains
due to repeated maximal sprints and
acceleration.
Because football combines maximal sprints
with frequent player-to-player contact, it is
not surprising that up to 30% of all football
injuries are thigh muscle injuries.

24. Sportsman’s Hernia (Inguinal Disruption [ID])
Defined as pain, either of insidious or acute onset,
which occurs predominantly in the groin region
near the pubic tubercle.
Pain worse with activity, particularly sudden
movement, twisting, striding, sprinting, long or
dead ball kicks, sidestepping, coughing/sneezing,
and sit-ups

26. Knee Injuries
Injuries to the knee are among the most
common problems seen in football.
ACL injuries are relatively common in
football. They can lead to long term
instability and dysfunction if they are not
adequately identified or treated.

28. Ankle Injuries
The ankle is the most commonly injured joint
in sport.
The most common injury is a sprain of the
lateral ligaments.

30. Foot injuries
Football is one of the most popular sports in
the world and one in which the feet are most
exposed to injury
The mechanism of injury is a key
consideration when faced with an athlete
complaining of foot pain.

32. Stress Fracture
Stress fractures represent the failure of the
bony skeleton to absorb repetitive loads.
This results in structural fatigue of the bone,
causing pain, performance impairment and
potentially a complete fracture.
Loading can be intrinsic through transmission
of impact forces within the bone and/or
extrinsic via the application of tension across
bone from the muscles and connective tissue