Keeping summer-time overuse injuries from sidelining you

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Summer is the time for outdoor sports, working on the house, or making a lush garden.

Along the way, injuries can crop up, often from overuse.

But with a little preparation, go-getters can get back in the swing.

Temple Health physical therapist Tom Martin sees it every summer.

As the weather heats up, so do the injuries.

"They're going from sitting at a desk to trying to swing a tennis racket," says Martin.

Therapists and sports medicine doctors say pounding the pavement takes its toll over a summer.

"Knee and hip injuries as well as shoulder injuries," says Dr. Kristin Hullings, a Temple orthopedic-sports medicine specialist.

And many patients were unaware they had arthritis in some joints.

"They end up overdoing it and irritating their arthritis," sys Dr. Hullings.

And it's not just athletes.

Overzealous gardeners often come in with swollen knees or back pain.

"You see one weed and you start going, and you just got to get all the weeds out of the yard," she notes.

Martin says physical therapy helps overuse injuries heal.

However, it can be part of a plan to prevent them in the first place.

The best move, according to Dr. Hullings, "Be active all year long. I know that's easier said than done."

A physical therapist can help build the plan to do that.

First, find and strengthen any vulnerable areas.

"We know certain imbalances that go along with like shoulder injuries or rotator cuff injuries, knee injuries," says Martin. "Maybe having 2 days a week where you do strengthening to these select muscle groups."

Variety is also important.

Dr. Hullings says it's easy to fall into a routine.

She says she is against the adrenaline rush of the so-called "runner's high" many runners experience.

"You're not really building any new skills or any new muscle because you're doing the same thing every day.

But you also are more at risk of getting injured because you're over-fatiguing the same muscles all the time," she explains.

Martin points out you don't need a gym for good exercise.

"The PTs now are really creative, especially after COVID, to teach people how to be really good at controlling their health at home," he says.

And whatever activity you do, be sure to warm up, plus cool down and stretch afterward.

And get plenty of sleep.

Dr. Hullings says you're more likely to be injured if you are tired.