Louis Saha is a world class soccer player, but he has a chronic injury problem. His career has been one of ups and downs due to injuries.
He is a prolific goal scorer who has been paired in the past with Wayne Rooney. Louis’ ability to find and exploit open space relies on tip top conditioning, but he seems to be injured so much it is a concern.
This time the injury is with his ankle. He hurt it in a match against Fulham. The ankle injury was so bad he has to be stretchered off the field. In an interview with a paper he said:
I’m getting fed up because the injuries always happen when I am trying to start something. It’s hard, but when I see what is happening in Japan, I do not want to complain.
The comment about Japan is in reference to the earthquake and tsunami.
What are chronic ankle injuries? Chronic injuries of any kind are recurring injuries to a specific part of the body. Obviously, chronic ankle injuries affect the ankles. This can be one or both ankles, but mostly it affects one ankle. The ankles are key to most athletic performance since they provide a hinge between the leg and the foot.
Due to the population of tendons in the ankle region, sprains are the most common injury. These are insidious, as iterative sprains lead to a degeneration of the strength and flexibility of the tendons.
ckWhat can you do to prevent chronic ankle injuries? The most important thing is to treat your ankle injuries quickly and effectively. The next thing is to NOT RUSH COMING back. You have to let your ankle heal properly and rushing back just asks for re-injury, leading to a chronic problem.
Stretching should be a routine for anyone with a chronic ankle injury problem.You should also focus on strengthening the ankle itself. Here is a an excellent video for strengthening the ankle:
How do you treat chronic ankle injuries? You should stretch and strengthen then ankles, but do not rush back to the field or court. The number one way to invite chronic ankle injuries is to rush back before you are fully healed.
Chronic injuries of any type are a bummer for any athlete, but chronic ankle injuries take you out of most sports.