5 Most Common Sports Injuries and How to Prevent Them

Sports injuries can happen whether you’re chasing a Parkrun PB, playing club rugby, or tackling a weekend hike. From sprains and strains to fractures and dislocations, knowing what to do in the moment and how to rehab properly makes all the difference.

At Peak Movement Physiotherapy in Cape Town, we see firsthand how early assessment, smart load management, and targeted sports injury treatment shorten recovery time and cut the risk of setbacks. Sports injuries and physiotherapy go hand in hand: hands-on care, exercise therapy, and tailored guidance help you move better and return to sport with confidence.

In this guide, we cover the most common injuries, how to prevent them, and what effective sports injuries and treatment looks like so you can stay active, pain-free, and performing at your best.

Sprains and Strains

Sprains are ligament injuries; strains affect muscles or tendons. They happen with sudden twists, overstretching, or overtraining, classic weekend football, trail running, or gym mishaps. Symptoms include pain, swelling, bruising, and reduced movement; a ‘pulled muscle’ is simply a mild strain. These muscular injuries sit on a spectrum from micro-tears to partial ruptures.

Prevention: warm up for 8–10 minutes, add flexibility and mobility drills, wear sport-specific footwear, and progress training loads gradually.

Treatment: start with RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation) in the first 24–48 hours, then guided sports injuries treatment. At Peak Movement, we use sports massage, joint mobilisation, exercise therapy, and kinesiology taping to ease pain, restore range, and rebuild strength. Early physiotherapy reduces scar tissue and helps you return safely. With strains and sprains, avoid pushing through pain and get assessed if weight bearing is difficult or swelling persists.

Knee Injuries

Knee injuries often involve ligaments (ACL/MCL tears), meniscus tears, or patellar tracking problems and sometimes dislocations after a hard tackle or awkward landing. They’re common in running, rugby, netball, and football, especially with rapid changes of direction, fatigue, or previous muscular injuries in the hips and calves.

Prevention: build balanced strength in quads, hamstrings, and glutes; practise proper landing and cutting mechanics; include single-leg control, hopping drills, and calf work; rotate training surfaces and manage weekly load.

Treatment: early assessment matters. At Peak Movement we combine swelling control with targeted physiotherapy: range-of-motion work, progressive strengthening, neuromuscular training, and sport-specific rehab. Kinesiology taping and manual therapy can settle pain and improve patellar tracking. Where appropriate, gentle spinal and pelvic alignment techniques support lower-limb mechanics. We’ll guide your return-to-run and change-of-direction phases so you rebuild confidence, speed, and stability without flare-ups.

Shin Splints

Shin splints are pain along the shinbone from repetitive stress, common in runners and field sports. Overuse, poor footwear, and hard surfaces overload tissues, leading to muscle injuries and even compensatory back injuries. Early sports injuries treatment includes rest, ice, load modification, and dry needling. We guide footwear tweaks, stretching, and graded return with physiotherapy-led rehabilitation to prevent recurrence.

Tendinitis

Tendinitis is inflammation from repetitive overload, often at the Achilles, shoulder, or elbow. It sits within muscular injuries, but unlike pulled muscles, pain is usually local to the tendon and worse with load. Prevention: sound technique, gradual progression, and regular strength work. Treatment: physiotherapy with load management, myofascial release, eccentric exercise therapy, and activity tweaks. For shoulder injuries, we also address posture and scapular control.

Fractures

Fractures range from hairline stress fractures to complete breaks. Stress fractures develop from repetitive loading common in runners and jump sports, while sudden impacts or falls cause acute breaks and occasional dislocations.

Prevention: prioritise bone health (calcium, vitamin D), vary training (cross-training), and build strength to tolerate load.

Treatment: acute care may require immobilisation or a boot. Once your doctor clears healing, guided physiotherapy restores mobility, strength, and balance, with a graded return-to-sport plan to prevent re-injury.

The Role of Physiotherapy in Sports Injuries

Physiotherapy is central to both recovery and prevention. After assessment, we map out a plan that matches your sport, season, and goals, because sports injuries and physiotherapy must be specific to you. Hands-on care like sports massage, joint mobilisation, and myofascial release reduces pain and restores movement. Dry needling helps calm overactive muscles, while kinesiology taping supports tissues without limiting motion. We use targeted exercise therapy to rebuild strength, balance, and power, and integrate running drills or change-of-direction work where needed. Gentle spinal and pelvic adjustments can improve alignment and loading patterns down the chain. This is comprehensive sports injuries treatment, from early pain control to return-to-performance, so you’re not just back on the field, but back better.

General Prevention Strategies for All Sports Injuries

Start every session with a focused warm-up and finish with a cool-down. Build sound technique and progress training gradually to avoid strains and sprains and other muscle injuries. Prioritise strength and mobility (hips, core, calves), quality sleep, hydration, and rest days. Listen to your body, don’t push through pain or nagging back injuries; get assessed early.

Conclusion

Sports injuries are common and preventable. Physiotherapy speeds recovery. Book with Peak Movement to prevent injuries, recover faster, and return stronger.