Injury Prevention for Your Weekend Workouts

Your Guide to Avoiding the ER

Don't let sprains, tears, fractures, or any other sports injury keep you on the bench
By Travis Stork, M.D., with Jim Gorman menshealth
 

Survive Any Injury—and Bounce Back Stronger

Your Guide to Avoiding the ER // Person wrapping sprained ankle © Thinkstock

Image: Thinkstock

You don't want to know me.

If we meet on the job, it probably means you're in a world of hurt. I'm an ER doctor. I see the worst that can happen to a guy: the carnage inflicted by a multicar pileup, the devastation of a heart attack, the mess and the mayhem behind the evening news lead-in.

But I also see injuries that, while less Tarantinoesque, stick with me for other reasons—bones snapped on rock-hopping mountain-bike rides, ligaments shredded on soccer fields, tendons ruptured while boarding. When I see a man in his 30s who's torn up his knee playing hoops, or a 26-year-old who's wrecked his shoulder after imploding off a mogul, I empathize. Guys like us—we need to be in the game. We need to take on the biggest rapid, the steepest slope, the fiercest opponent. These are the activities—not our day jobs—that fuel our fires. I'd never recommend giving it up—the risk, the adrenaline rush. But I would advise you to do everything you can to minimize your chances of injury so you can stay in the game . . . and win. So here are seven of the most common sports injuries I see in the ER. Read on to learn how to keep from being yet another forced retiree from the games that make life worth living.

Already injured? Try these 10 quick ways to ward off pain.

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