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.
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Credits
Current as of: January 16, 2020
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