AJ stands for Andrew Jackson, our 7th president. His reputation for toughness earned him the nickname "Old Hickory." A hero of the War of 1812, Jackson has appeared on the $20 bill since 1928.

Hi, I'm Anna!

Most of my friends love sports, including me. However, when you play serious sports, you also run the risk of injuries.

I’m a dancer. When I was 10 years old I was really excited for dance season to start. I was in seven dance numbers and couldn’t wait to get back after summer break.

Then, at the end of the summer, I was swimming and I stepped on something in the water. It hurt my foot, and cracked my sesamoid bone.

Sesamoid Bone

The sesamoid is a bone in your foot that’s part of your big toe.

There are other types of injuries, and different ways to recover. When you have any injury, you should always see a doctor. It’s important to understand your injury and know how to take care of it.

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When I landed and cracked it, I missed out on a lot of fun sports. But that doesn’t mean that I just sat out on the sidelines. I had to do many things so I wouldn’t get out of shape, because most foot injuries take six to eight weeks to heal.

Getting Back in Shape

Some of the things I did to stay in shape included stretching, so my muscles wouldn’t tighten up, and icing and heating my sesamoid bone. I also had to use crutches and wear a boot.

CloseWhat Activities Cause the Most Injuries?Most Injury-Prone Sports

Most Americans agree that football is one of the most dangerous sports, but a new study proves otherwise.

According to data from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission on injuries treated in emergency rooms, basketball and bicycling had more injuries. So, next time your mom says to stick to safe sports like basketball, instead of football, you can point to scientific data.

You may think that people playing nonaggressive sports don’t get injured, but people get hurt playing golf and many people bounced to the ER off trampolines.

Here are the top five most injury-prone activities.

1.    Basketball: 512,213
2.    Bicycling: 485,669
3.    Football: 418,260
4.    Soccer: 174,686
5.    Baseball: 155,898

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Knee injury

One of the more serious injuries is a knee injury. There are multiple types of knee injuries. Some are more severe than others. Here are some common injuries:

• Fracture: a break or crack in the bone
• Sprain: a wrenching of the knee ligaments
• Meniscus tear: a tear in the cartilage of your knee

These knee injuries, along with many others, take awhile to heal, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get better and get going again after the injury. The first step to recovering from a knee injury is RICE: rest, ice, compression, and elevation.RICE is Nice

• Rest will help you heal and keep you from re-injuring your knee.
• Ice can help settle down inflamed areas of the injury.
• Compress using bandages or a brace helps support the knee when your other muscles cannot.
• Elevate to prevent extreme inflammation. Inflammation can cause further injury to the knee.

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Doctors always tell you to take it slow. It may be hard because injuries last six to eight weeks or longer. It is far worse to re-injure that area and go back to where you started than to just sit out on some things.

Concussion

Concussions can be dangerous.

Another serious sports injury is a concussion. A concussion is the outcome of a severe blow to the head or neck that causes the brain to rock back and forth.

Usually, it takes about seven to 30 days to recover unless you hit your head again, making it take longer to heal. Sometimes concussion causes permanent brain damage.

The best thing you can do for a concussion is to sit out of things, and take it slow and have someone keep an eye on you.

Keep reading to learn how to take care of other sports injuries...

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