What are Common Triathlon Injuries?

Common Triathlon Injuries

Triathletes are vulnerable to the full spectrum of sports injuries that could be sustained from swimming, cycling or running.

Most triathletes suffer overuse or overtraining injuries, but acute traumatic injuries can also occur during an event or training.

Please visit the following links dedicated to the three disciplines of a triathlon:

• Swimming Injuries
  
• Cycling Injuries
  
• Running Injuries

Most Common Triathlon Injuries

Typically, the types of injuries triathletes deal with are overuse injuries.

Triathlon training repetitively stresses muscles, tendons, and the tissues around joints and bones. This continuous stress produces repetitive microtrauma.

Overuse injuries result from the body's inability to keep up with repair of the damage created by repetitive microtrauma. The body's tissue eventually breaks down -- resulting in pain, inflammation, and weakness.

Ignoring the pain and inflammation and continuing to train will lead tomacrotrauma and disruption of the tendon, muscle or bone. The worst case scenario is an injury that could result in weeks or months away from your triathlon training and competition.

If you need advice or you need to manage your triathlete injury, we strongly recommend that you utilise expert advice. Poorly diagnosed and mismanaged injuries can ultimately interrupt your training and event schedules.

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Specific Triathlon Injuries

• Achilles Tendon Rupture

• Achilles Tendonitis/Tendinitis

• Adductor Tendinopathy

• Back Muscle Strain or Ligament Sprain

• Biceps Tendinitis

• Calf Muscle Tears

• Chondromalacia Patella

• Facet Joint Syndrome

• Groin Strain

• Hamstring Strain & Injury

• Heel Spurs (Calcaneal Spurs)

• Herniated Disc

• Hip Arthritis (Osteoarthritis)

• Iliotibial Band Friction Syndrome

• Knee Ligament Injury

• Knee Meniscus Injury

• Metatarsalgia

• Muscle Pain: Strains or Tears

• Osgood Schlatter's Disease

• Osteitis Pubis

• Overuse Injuries

• Patella Tendonitis (Tendinopathy)

• Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome (Kneecap)

• Piriformis Syndrome

• Plantar Fasciitis

• Poor Hip Core

• Quadriceps (Thigh) Muscle Strain

• Rotator Cuff Calcific Tendinitis

• Rotator Cuff Impingement

• Rotator Cuff Injuries

• Rotator Cuff Tears

• Rotator Cuff Tendonitis

• Sacroiliac Joint Dysfunction

• Sciatica

• Sever's Disease

• Shin Splints

• Shoulder - Subacromial Bursitis

• Sinding Larsen Johansson Syndrome

• Spondylolisthesis

• Sprained Ankle

• Stress Fracture

• Swimmer's Shoulder

• Trochanteric Bursitis

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How To Treat Triathlon Injuries

The following treatment guidelines will obviously vary depending on your specific injury.

Treatment for most triathlon injuries includes:

Acute Injury Management

• Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation (RICE)

Soft Tissue Management

• Massage, Dry Needling, Acupuncture and Muscle Stretching 

• Neural Tissue Mobility

Muscle Control

• Daily program of Core Stability Training 

• Strengthening Program to Correct any Muscle Imbalances

Biomechanical Correction

• Contributing Biomechanical Factors: identification and correction
   
• Orthoses to correct leg length discrepancies or foot deformities
   
• Professional evaluation/correction of your swimming style,  running gait and cycle position eg Physio or Podiatrist
   
• Cycling Set-up Analaysis

Training Analaysis

• It is important to ensure that you are undertaking a well balanced training schedule to optimise your performance and minimise your injury risk.

For more significant or persistent injuries, a triathlete will typically seeks out a medical professional from a Sports Physiotherapist, Sports Physician, Podiatrist, Sports Massage Therapist, Sports Dietitian and/or Sports Psychologist.

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Common Triathlete Treatment Options

• Immediate Injury Treatment

• Avoid the HARM Factors

• What are the Healing Phases for a Soft Tissue Injury?

• What to do after a Muscle Strain or Ligament Sprain

• Acupuncture and Dry Needling

• What is Sub-Acute Soft Tissue Injury Treatment?

• Core Stability Exercises

• Scapular Stabilisation Exercises

• Rotator Cuff Strengthening Exercises

• Closed Kinetic Chain Exercises

• Active Foot Posture Correction Exercises

• Gait Re-Education

• Biomechanical Analysis

• Balance Enhancement Exercises

• Proprioception & Balance Exercises

• Agility & Sport-Specific Exercises

• Medications?

• Orthotics

• Real-Time Ultrasound Retraining

• Soft Tissue Massage

• Walking Boot

• Electrotherapy & Local Modalities

• Heating Pads

• How to Strap an Ankle

• Joint Pain Relief Techniques

• Kinesiology Taping

• Neurodynamics / Neuro Mobilisation

• Prehabilitation

• Strengthening Exercises

• Stretching Exercises

• Support Brace

• Supportive Taping & Strapping

• TENS Machines

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FAQs about Triathlon Injuries

• What is Pain?

• Physiotherapy & Exercise

• How Does Kinesiology Tape Reduce Swelling?

• How to Retrain Your Deep Core Stability Muscles

• How Does a Swiss Exercise Ball Help to Cure Back Pain?

• How to Strap an Ankle

• How to Stretch?

• Sports Injury? What to do? When?

• What are Growing Pains?

• What are the Early Warning Signs of an Injury?

• What is a Functional Back Stability Score?

• What is Sports Physiotherapy?

• What is the Shoulder Impingement Zone?

• What is Your Rotator Cuff?

• Why Does Heat Feel So Good?

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Helpful Products for Triathletes

 

More info about Triathlete Injuries