Sun, Fun, and Potential Risks: Common Summer Injuries and Their Prevention

With the blazing sun and warm breeze, summer brings opportunities for exciting activities, including outdoor fun, sports, and other entertainment. From exhilarating water sports to climbing rocks, or from festive gatherings to fun outdoor games, the summer season provides us with a number of activities to be engaged and energised. Indeed, throughout the summer season, we have a lot to do and get fun. But, it is also crucial to recognise the potential risks and discomforts accompanying these summertime pursuits. Sunburn, dehydration, heatstroke, and many other potential risks are identified, causing serious problems and converting your fun into a tragedy.

Understanding and awareness of these risks can help you avoid potential problems, helping you get more fun during this summertime. Here in this article, we are going to explain the common summertime injuries, their causes and symptoms. As well as this, we also come up with possible preventive measures (suggested by experts), to help avoid these risks. So, let’s begin our discussion here;

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Common summertime injuries and their preventions

During direct exposure to sun and heat, you may experience several heat-related problems. At the same time, involving in strenuous activities and outdoor fun, you may also experience some overuse injuries. Explore the common summertime injuries along with their causes, symptoms, and preventative measures. It will help you avoid the risk of potential injuries during your summer fun:

1) Sunburn

Sunburn is one of the most prevalent and well-known problems most people face during the summer season. When directly exposed to sun or ultraviolet radiations, the skin becomes painful, reddish, and sometimes blistered. Prolonged exposure of skin to the sun without protecting it may lead to long-term skin damage. It may increase the risk of premature ageing and skin cancer.

The common symptoms resulting from sunburn may include, redness, pain & tenderness, peeling, heat, itching, blisters, swelling, dryness, headache, fever, and fatigue. Whenever you feel such symptoms during summertime, you must not ignore them and consult your healthcare professionals to diagnose or treat them.

How to prevent getting sunburned?

Here we come with the possible preventive measures, to help you avoid the chances of sunburn during summertime:

Apply sunscreen on your skin. Use SPF 30 or higher
Keep your skin under shade during peak hours, between 10 AM and 04 PM
Wear protective clothing to protect your skin. These may include hat, arm sleeves, pants, and sunglasses
Use accessories to avoid direct exposure to sunshine. These accessories may include canopies and umbrella
Avoid tanning lamps and beds

2) Overuse injuries

As summertime comes with a lot of fun and sports activities, people look to be engaged in tennis, volleyball, badminton, polo, frisbee, cricket, swimming, and others. These are the activities that, sometimes, require putting excessive pressure on different parts of the body. Thus, they may result in overuse injuries.

Common overuse injuries may include tennis elbow, golfer’s elbow, shin splints, plantar fasciitis, Achilles tendinitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, stress fracture, and others. The common symptoms of overuse injuries may include pain, swelling, stiffness, weakness, limited range of motion, and others depending on your condition.

How to prevent overuse injuries?

Here are the possible preventive measures that will surely help you reduce the chances of overuse injuries during your summertime fun:

Increase the activity level gradually and avoid sudden intensity
Warm up your body properly before engaging in any activity
Maintain good posture and position for a particular game or shot
Stay hydrated to support muscle health during the summer season fun
If you are vulnerable to injuries, must wear protective equipment like, wrist support braces, elbow support braces, and others

3) Sports-related injuries

Participating in different sports and competitions during the summer season can be exciting. But, some high-contact sports may cause serious injuries. The high-contact sports-related injuries may result in pain, swelling, tenderness, weakness, and limited range of motion.

How to prevent injuries during sports?

Here are some tips to improve your athletic performance or avoid the chances of overuse injuries:

Wear protective gear, such as compression elbow sleeves, adjustable ankle support braces, back support braces or belts, and others according to your needs
Make sure the playing surface is safe and well-maintained
Follow proper techniques and maintain a good posture to perform well and avoid overuse injuries

4) Muscle strains and muscle sprains

Muscle strains and sprains are common problems resulting from any physical activity. Muscle strains result in tearing or stretching your muscles or tendons. However, muscle sprain refers to tearing or stretching your ligaments. The common symptoms resulting from muscle sprains or strains may include pain, swelling, muscle weakness, bruising, instability, tenderness, joint stiffness, and restricted range of motion.

How to prevent muscles from straining or spraining?

Sports experts or healthcare professionals suggest some preventative measures, to help you avoid the chances of muscle sprains and strains during summertime physical activities:

Warm up your body properly before every single physical activity
Experts suggest maintaining overall conditioning and overall fitness throughout the year
Using proper equipment and supportive products is necessary
Take frequent breaks during your activities and avoid overusing your body
Cool down and stretch your body after your physical activities

5) Fractures and dislocations

During the summer season, we get the chance of many adventurous activities, including skiing, waterboarding, diving, cycling, mountain biking, rock climbing, and others. These activities, indeed, come with exceptional adventures. But, at the same time, they may cause serious injuries, such as fractures or dislocation. Fractures and dislocation may result in severe pain, swelling, visible deformity, numbness, muscle spasms, limited range of motion, and others.

How to prevent bones from fractures and dislocation?

Healthcare advisors and professional coaches suggest some preventions by following which you can avoid the chances of fractures and dislocation. Some of the most-followed ones are listed below:

Before starting any adventurous activity, follow all the safety measures or guidelines
Learn proper skiing, hacking, cycling, and boarding techniques
Use proper equipment and gadgets that are necessary for your selected adventurous activities
Seek proper training or do adventurous activities under the supervision of professionals
Always listen to your body and do not overuse it

Conclusion

The summer season is on the head, and obviously, everyone is excited about the joys and summertime adventures. You should participate in the fun and adventurous activities. But, you must have an eye on the safety measures as well to get a safe experience during this summertime fun. By adopting proper techniques, using proper equipment, wearing safety products, or following other preventive measures, you can keep yourself safe. For further guidelines or safety measures, must consult your healthcare advisors or sports professionals.