When you hear about sports and activity related injuries, most people assume that these have to be caused by an accident or mistake. However, sometimes your body just isn't ready for the level of activity you're asking for. Sometimes just going for a long walk after a period of inactivity can lead to a surprising amount of pain and loss of function in one or both legs. In fact, this can happen to anyone upping the stress they put on their legs whether it's going from inactivity to walking, walking to running, or even just running on grass to running on asphalt at your normal pace and intensity.

Wrist braces are one of the most commonly used pieces of medical equipment in the modern world. Why? Because they are so incredibly useful. In truth, 'wrist brace' is an incredibly general term meaning any specially designed wearable used to support, protect, or restrict the movement of a wrist. They can be made to fit the right or left hand and some braces are universal, meaning they can be used on either wrist based on how you configure them. Wrist braces can be used to keep your wrist safe after an injury or prevent an injury you know is a risk. They are often used to relieve long-term wrist pain conditions and are frequently recommended or even prescribed by doctors for specific recovery plans.

If you're not sure whether you should be wearing a wrist brace for recovery or relief, here's a quick run-down of the most common reasons (but by no means all the reasons) to wear a wrist brace.

Getting injured is never a fun experience and it's always necessary to seek medical attention afterward but some injuries are more dangerous than others. Elbow injuries are particularly touchy because of the number of things that could potentially go wrong. Elbows can be damaged over time by stressful repetitive motion or all at once through an impact and/or fall. When this happens, it's vital that you know how to respond and seek treatment immediately in order to both assess the level of damage and get you on the path toward healing and recovery as quickly as possible.

For professional or casual athletes who enjoy active physical exertion every day, time spent in recovery is often incredibly difficult. The first few days and possibly even weeks of 'downtime' after an injury mean leaving behind your normal workout routine, staying off the field or track and out of the gym. When the doctor has sent you home to recuperate, it's important to actually rest the injury or you'll only take longer to heal. But how do you fully relax when all you can think about is how much you want to get back in the game? We have ten useful tips to help you make the most of your recovery time without getting 'out of shape' in the meantime.

Just like with machines, any time you do something that involves moving parts, there's a certain risk of damage. The amount you move and how much effort you put into each motion also contributes to this potential risk. Taking a sedate walk around the neighborhood may have minimal consequences but when you're running your hardest trying to beat your best time or get to the finish line before your competitors, a single mismanaged movement could result in a serious injury.

Thousands of athletes and other working professionals every year experience something commonly known as "Tennis Elbow". This distinctly named condition is, in fact, a kind of injury that can be contracted during any repetitive and stressful movements of the forearm, as is very common in the game of tennis. Of course, you don't have to be a tennis player to get tennis elbow. Anyone who uses their arms regularly at work, from playing golf to moving boxes, even stirring large batches of food in a cafeteria kitchen, can cause this kind of elbow strain, and it is often caused by doing the same forceful motion too many times with imperfect form that puts strain on the tendons of your elbow and forearm.

When you're at home healing a wrist injury rather than out doing your favorite physical activities, the waiting is often the most frustrating part. Sure, you know you're supposed to ice, compress, and rest it for several days but you want to do things that involve using both hands and it's tough to sit around watching movies instead. Even if you're completely familiar with the usual R.I.C.E. procedures of rest, ice, compression, and elevation, these don't actually take up much of your day. After all, resting is what's causing the problem, icing only takes twenty minutes out of every two hours, and compression takes maybe fifteen total minutes out of the day getting it in and out of the elastic bandage or wrist brace. The rest of the day that you're not at work on light duty, it's just waiting.

If you have ever suffered from aching knees, then you know the misery that comes with this condition. People may experience two conditions that result in knee pain — Acute or Chronic.

Martial arts competitions are an increasingly popular sport for all ages. And it’s something that people perform, often with injuries. There’s no doubt it’s an injury-prone sport, however, if it’s a sport that you enjoy, there are things you can do to ensure you minimize injuries beforehand and treat them well after they occur in order to maximize recovery times.

Almost every athlete suffers some sort of knee injury at least once in their career. Your knees are important in everything from running to lifting heavy equipment. The more active you are, the more likely they're going to experience knee pain. When this happens, more often than not you'll find yourself wearing at least one type of knee brace during and after the recovery process. Of course, you don't have to have a sports injury to need and wear a knee brace. Many people do it just for prevention or to alleviate pain from a non-injury-related cause. Knee braces allow you to get back on your feet quickly even if you won't be heading back onto the field for a few days or weeks. Here are five great reasons why you might find yourself wearing a knee brace.

When you live an active lifestyle of professional or casual sports, it's not uncommon to deal with the occasional minor knee injury. Sometimes it will be based on an event that occurred during training or on the field while other times knee pain can be a result of stress, tension, or imperfect form over time.

Glute injuries are something that you should pay attention to because they can really affect your quality of life in addition to your prospects for returning to your sport as quickly as possible. Here are a few things that you can and should do after a glute injury in order to minimize the potential of further injury, the amount of pain you feel, and the amount of time it’s going to take to get you back in the saddle of your chosen sport.

A groin muscle injury is often serious in nature because of what a central role it plays in your body’s musculature system. Here are some options for what you should do after a groin injury in order to maximize health and work through the issue so you can get back to your sport.

Beyond being thirsty!

Getting a restful night's sleep revives your body and mind. But it seems almost impossible these days. You're constantly on the go with work, kids, and everything else. By the time you climb into bed, you're already thinking about tomorrow. Wondering what to wear, packing lunches, that appointment, on and on. 

Lower back pain is one of the annoying inevitables in life for almost everybody. In many cases, lower back pain plagues the corporate professional sitting at a desk or athletes from repeatative movements. The good news is that majority of cases are relatively mild and can be managed at home. Pilates is an example of a beneficial exercise that'll help alleviate some, if not all, of your pain. 

You know that anyone who participates in a certain sport on a professional level is exponentially more at risk for suffering from a sports injury. In fact, it wouldn't be unreasonable to suggest that every professional athlete will suffer from an injury at some point, whether that is a relatively minor injury from overexercising or something more serious like a fracture. If you too are an athlete (just not at a professional level) you understand that the risk of potential injury also exists for you. If you are currently suffering from a sports injury, it is worth looking at how the pros deal with their injuries and taking notes. In this post, we will take a look at a few recovery tips from the pros to help you come back strong and fully heal as quickly as possible.

Although tennis players to the south enjoy their passion outdoors throughout much of the year, those in the northern tier of states are confined to indoor courts until the warm summer breezes finally arrive. To maximize the competitive pleasures of those precious fair weather months, it's important for players to minimize the impact of common injuries like tennis elbow.  

What is Tennis Elbow?

You smell with your body, not just your nose.

Week 14 Fantasy Football Injuries presented by Mueller Sports Medicine.

Tennis is a great activity to feed your warrior spirit and competitive instincts. After gaining basic tennis skills, notch it up and play competent matches with similarly-matched opponents and compete regularly. Even after only a few times a month, you might be experiencing tightness and/or soreness. There is an enormous amount of torque and strain on shoulder and elbow joints, with the elbow typically being the weaker of those two joints. This can lead to severe tendonitis and the painful soreness know as "tennis elbow". Fortunately for competitive tennis players, tennis elbow treatments have come a long way from the "icing and resting" recommendations.

So, you need a knee brace?  You walk into your favorite sporting goods store or begin to browse online.  You desperately want to find the appropriate knee brace for you, the one that will fit like a glove and provide just the support you need, but after a only few moments of searching you find yourself to be lost in a sea of knees.  Let's demystify your search and help you to find your knee brace by answering these four questions: