Overuse Injuries

Topic Overview

Overuse injuries occur from stressing your joints, muscles, or other tissues without allowing them to recover. For example, throwing a baseball at high speeds over and over can stress your shoulder joint and cause an injury to part of that joint (the rotator cuff). Stress fractures, in which a bone breaks from the pressure placed on it through activity, are also common for athletes.

Overuse injuries can be caused by:

  • Doing too much too soon.
  • Doing intense exercise.
  • Not varying your activity or exercise routine.
  • Playing sports.
  • Doing too much without proper conditioning.
  • Not using the proper form for the activity.
  • Not using proper equipment, such as wearing poorly fitting shoes.
  • Doing too much of an activity at work.

For more information, see the topic:

Credits

ByHealthwise Staff
Primary Medical Reviewer E. Gregory Thompson, MD - Internal Medicine
Adam Husney, MD - Family Medicine
Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine
Specialist Medical Reviewer Heather O. Chambliss, PhD, FACSM - Exercise Science

Current as ofDecember 7, 2017