Are sports injuries getting worse / more frequent?

[kgiessler]

There is a psychology term (that I forget...) for the habit of remembering things as being better than they were.  And perhaps that is the case right now, but I don't ever remember sports players having as many injuries as they do these days, or those injuries being as bad as they are these days.

Last night's two torn ACLs really sparked the thought in my mind.  That is not an inane type of injury, it's fairly serious business.  And thinking about the NBA as a whole over the past few years, many serious players have had other profound injuries. Concussions happen all the time (more so in other sports), as well as a variety of other ailments.

Combine that with a recent article that I read stating that 1 out of 3 children playing sports will have an injury requiring medical attention ( http://consumer.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=664078 ) and I'm wondering what is going on.

So what do you think it is?  Is there an epidemic of too much intensity?  Or are we just becoming more vigilant in diagnosing and treating?

[azzenfrost]

I think we're just better at catching them early.

[pearljammer10]

I think there is definitely a correlation to overworking ones body. Obviously training and staying in shape is what everyone needs, but I think many of todays athletes overwork themselves and this causes more frequent injuries because of it.

[Donoghus]

I think there is definitely a correlation to overworking ones body. Obviously training and staying in shape is what everyone needs, but I think many of todays athletes overwork themselves and this causes more frequent injuries because of it.

I agree with this.

I also think the 24/7 news cycle makes us more aware of things than in the past so it certainly seems more prevalent now.

[Eddie20]

I would say it has to do with just how big, fast, and powerful the modern day athletes have become. Ligaments, tendons, etc. simply can't handle the amount of stress that is being put on them.