Overuse Injuries

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…

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

Current as ofMay 5, 2019

Author: Healthwise Staff
Medical Review: E. Gregory Thompson, MD – Internal Medicine
Adam Husney, MD – Family Medicine
Kathleen Romito, MD – Family Medicine
Heather O. Chambliss, PhD, FACSM – Exercise Science

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