Strengthening muscles to prevent upper limb sports injuries

Racquet sports such as tennis, squash, and badminton involve repetitive movement of upper limb joints and improper posture may lead to sports injuries. Dr Wilson Li, Chief of Service of Department of Orthopaedics & Traumatology, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, shares about common upper limb sports injuries, and Physiotherapist I Cora Cheung teaches us some injury prevention exercises.

Common injuries are tennis elbow and golfer’s elbow, which are inflammation of the extensor and flexor tendon origins respectively. Common presentations are pain and swelling at the tendon origin, exacerbated by extending or bending the elbow.

Avoid repetitive muscle movement. Stretch and strengthen elbow muscles.

Improper stroke at racquet games would disrupt the kinetic chain or even cause rotator cuff tear in the worst case. Patients present with sudden onset of shoulder pain and weakness.

Improve posture and strengthen rotator cuff.

Repetitive overuse of the wrist may cause tenosynovitis, which presents with pain upon exertion, while repetitive rotation of the forearm and wrist may cause ulnar wrist pain, as a result of damage to the triangular fibrocartilage complex (TFCC).

Exercise to increase the flexibility of soft issues. Strengthening the wrist extensors and flexors may prevent muscle strain. Protect TFCC by wearing a wrist guard and training the forearm and wrist muscles.