WHY DO OVERUSE INJURIES OCCUR?
The human body has a tremendous capacity to adapt to physical stresses. In fact, many positive changes occur as a result of this. With exercise and activity, bones, muscles, tendons, and ligaments get stronger and more functional. This happens because of an internal process called remodeling. The remodeling process involves both the break down and build up of tissue. There is a fine balance between the two and if break down occurs more rapidly than build up, injury occurs. This can happen when you first begin a sport or activity and try to do too much too soon. If you begin playing tennis and play for several hours in an attempt to improve rapidly you are setting yourself up for an overuse injury. This is because you are adequate time to recover. As a beginner, you may also have poor technique which may predispose you to tennis elbow. With overuse injuries, it often takes detective-like work to understand why the injury occurred.
The human body has a tremendous capacity to adapt to physical stress. We tend to think of “stress” in the context of its negative effect on our emotional wellbeing, but physical stress, which is simply exercise and activity, is beneficial for our bones, muscles, tendons, and ligaments, making them stronger and more functional. This happens because of an internal process called remodeling. The remodeling process involves both the breakdown and buildup of tissue. There is a fine balance between the two, and if breakdown occurs more rapidly than buildup, an overuse injury occurs.
