American football is a popular sport around the world. As leagues open up in different areas, many people are being exposed to the sport for the first time. Like all sports, there is a risk that players may experience an American football foot injury while training or playing. Here are three of the most common foot injuries and how to prevent them.
Achilles rupture
This injury most commonly occurs when American football players undertake intensive training after a long bout of inactivity, such as starting a training camp in preparation for a new season. Where Achilles tendonitis refers to inflammation of the tendon, located at the back of the foot above the heel, a rupture is much more serious and involves a partial or complete tear. This American football foot injury can have players side-lined for the season, so it is best avoided where possible. Warm up well and increase training slowly, particularly explosive push off movements often seen on the pitch.
Turf toe
American football foot injury can develop in places uncommon in other sports. Turf toe is a sprain of the big toe joint. As players are constantly pushing off the ground from the toes, overextension of the toe joint is possible. Artificial turf is more likely to cause it due to its gripping nature, but it occurs on grass pitches too. It may be prevented by adapting football boots to be more supportive and flexible by adding sports performance insoles and increasing training loads incrementally.
Jones fracture
A Jones fracture is also called a fifth metatarsal fracture and is a painful American football foot injury worth avoiding. The fifth metatarsal is the long bone that runs on the outside of the foot that connects to the little toe. It can break from sudden impact, poor landing or repeated stress and overuse. They can also reoccur if healing protocol is rushed or improperly implemented. Prevent a Jones fracture by wearing supportive and protective footwear, avoiding perpendicular impacts to the feet, and landing on the outside of the feet.
Plantar Fasciitis
This is a common injury for football players as the stud or cleat under the boot can cause specific sharp forces to irritate causing swelling of the plantar tendon that runs under the foot. The best prevention is to use shock absorbing insoles like Enertor. Hamilton Tiger Cats in CFL did not loose 1 player to Plantar Fasciitis after the full squad wore Enertor insoles in the 2017 season.
About Enertor Advanced Technology Insoles – Enertor insoles are designed to prevent a number of common running injuries and provide more comfort. Designed by leading podiatrists to reduce your risk of injury, the unique design features support your foot throughout training. Enertor insoles are enhanced by D3O impact protection technology, which means they can provide more shock absorption than any other insole. Our expertise, combined with the patented D3O shock absorption technology, enables Enertor to deliver the most advanced injury prevention insoles on the market today.
The best insoles and socks for recovery from a foot injury
First of all, never start training too early and when starting do it gently. If you feel any pain during your training STOP. Whether you are recovering from an injury or surgery the important thing is to reduce the shock going into the foot. The perfect device for this is the Comfort full length insole because of how the material reacts under the foot and with 44% shock absorption, this should make you feel better under the foot. If you feel you also need stability and perhaps suffer from cramp a combination of the comfort full length insole and Enertor recovery socks are the perfect choice.
Enertor Comfort full length insoles are available to buy from our online shop.
Whilst Enertor has over 18 years Orthotics experience, our blog content is provided for informational purposes only and it is not a substitute for your own doctor’s medical advice. Enertor advises anyone with an injury to seek their own medical advice – and do not make any health or medical related decisions based solely on information found on this site.
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