12 Common Track and Field injuries (Prevention & Treatment)

The track and field injuries that come up most: runner’s knee, hamstring strain, ankle sprain, plantar fasciitis and Achilles tendinitis.

Sprinting, jumping and throwing add stress fractures, jumper’s knee, ankle fractures, rotator cuff damage, SLAP tears and spine fractures, each with its causes and warning signs.

It’s time to familiarize yourself with these maladies, conquer them, and reclaim your spot on the finish line.

Injury Rates and Numbers

The figures below come from injury surveillance data and peer reviewed studies. Each row names the population it was measured in, because rates from elite athletes and from recreational players are not comparable.

Finding	Measured in	Source
NCAA track and field athletes sustained injuries at an overall rate of 3.99 per 1,000 athlete exposures between 2010 and 2014.	NCAA track and field athletes (all divisions), 2010/11 through 2013/14 academic years	Hopkins C, Williams J, Rauh MJ, Zhang L. Epidemiology of NCAA Track and Field Injuries From 2010 to 2014. Orthop J Sports Med. 2022
Female NCAA track and field athletes had an 18 percent higher injury risk than male athletes and missed 41 percent more time to injury.	NCAA track and field athletes (all divisions), 2010/11 through 2013/14 academic years	Hopkins C, Williams J, Rauh MJ, Zhang L. Epidemiology of NCAA Track and Field Injuries From 2010 to 2014. Orthop J Sports Med. 2022
In NCAA competition, track and field athletes were injured 71 percent more often than in practice, with 59 percent more time lost per injury.	NCAA track and field athletes (all divisions), 2010/11 through 2013/14 academic years	Hopkins C, Williams J, Rauh MJ, Zhang L. Epidemiology of NCAA Track and Field Injuries From 2010 to 2014. Orthop J Sports Med. 2022
Among NCAA women’s track and field athletes, the overall injury rate was 2.20 per 1,000 athlete exposures, higher in competition than practice.	NCAA women’s track and field athletes, 2014/15 through 2018/19 academic years	Chandran A, Morris SN, Roby PR, Boltz AJ, Robison HJ, Collins CL. Epidemiology of Injuries in National Collegiate Athletic Association Women’s Track and Field: 2014-2015 Through 2018-2019. J Athl Train. 2021;56(7):780-787
Hamstring tears were the single most common injury among NCAA women’s track and field athletes, accounting for 8.9 percent of all injuries.	NCAA women’s track and field athletes, 2014/15 through 2018/19 academic years	Chandran A, Morris SN, Roby PR, Boltz AJ, Robison HJ, Collins CL. Epidemiology of Injuries in National Collegiate Athletic Association Women’s Track and Field: 2014-2015 Through 2018-2019. J Athl Train. 2021;56(7):780-787

Overview

Injury	Body area	Typical time out
Runner’s Knee (Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome)	Knee	2 to 6 weeks, months if chronic
Hamstring Strain	Back of thigh	2 to 12 weeks, months if tendon
Ankle Sprain	Ankle	1 to 6 weeks, longer if grade 3
Plantar Fasciitis	Foot	6 weeks to 6 months
Achilles Tendinitis	Ankle and calf	3 to 12 weeks, months if chronic
Stress Fractures	Lower leg and foot	6 to 8 weeks, months if high risk
Jumper’s Knee (Patellar Tendinitis)	Knee	3 to 12 weeks, months if chronic
Ankle Fractures	Ankle	3 to 6 months, longer after surgery
Rotator Cuff Injury	Shoulder	6 to 12 weeks, 4 to 6 months post op
SLAP Tear (Shoulder)	Shoulder	3 to 4 months, 6 to 12 after surgery
Spine Fractures	Back	3 to 6 months, longer if traumatic

Runner’s Knee (Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome)

The pain sits where the back of the kneecap glides in its groove on the thigh bone. The cartilage and the richly innervated tissue under and around the kneecap become sensitive when the joint is loaded in a bent position, which is exactly what happens during the landing phase of every running stride, on curves, and when you go down stairs. High training volume, a sudden jump in mileage, and weak hip abductors that let the thigh drop inward all raise the load on that contact area.

Symptoms

• A dull ache around or behind the kneecap that is hard to point at with one finger.
• Pain that builds during a run rather than starting with a sudden stab.
• Discomfort going down stairs or downhill more than going up.
• Stiffness and aching after sitting with the knee bent for a long time.
• Occasional grinding or clicking when you bend the knee under load.

How serious it is: There is no formal grading. The mild form hurts only during and shortly after harder sessions and settles with a few easier days, while the stubborn form hurts on stairs and in everyday walking and has usually been building for months.

Typical time out: Two to six weeks before running feels comfortable again if you catch it early and cut the load, but three to six months when the pain has already been present for a season, because the tissue needs a long, progressive strength build rather than a short break.

See a doctor if: See a doctor if the knee locks, gives way, or swells visibly within hours, since that points at a mechanical problem inside the joint rather than a load problem.

What helps

• Keep moving at a level that keeps pain low and settles quickly afterwards; complete rest tends to make the knee more sensitive, not less.
• Build quadriceps and hip abductor strength with squats, split squats, and side lying or banded hip work, progressed over months.
• Shift some volume to flatter surfaces and shorten your stride slightly with a higher cadence, which lowers the load per step at the kneecap.
• Reduce downhill running and deep knee bend work in the first weeks, then bring them back gradually.
• Get physical therapy if the pain has lasted longer than six weeks, mainly to get the strength progression right; imaging adds little in a typical case.

Hamstring Strain

The three hamstring muscles at the back of the thigh tear at the junction between muscle and tendon, most often in the biceps femoris. It happens in the late swing phase of sprinting, when the muscle is long and braking the forward moving lower leg at the same time. Hurdling and the block start put the same tissue under peak tension, and a hamstring that has been torn before is the strongest predictor of the next one.

Symptoms

• A sudden sharp pain at the back of the thigh, often with the feeling of being hit or of something snapping.
• You have to stop the sprint immediately and cannot accelerate again.
• Tenderness at a spot you can point at with one finger.
• Bruising that appears a day or two later and travels down toward the knee.
• Pain when you straighten the knee against resistance or lengthen the muscle.

How serious it is: The usual scale runs from grade 1, a few fibers with mild pain and near normal strength, through grade 2 with clear strength loss and a palpable defect, to grade 3, a full tear or an avulsion at the sitting bone. Tears close to the tendon at the top of the thigh take much longer than tears in the muscle belly.

Typical time out: Two to six weeks for a grade 1 strain and six to twelve weeks for a grade 2, while a proximal tendon tear or a surgically repaired avulsion often means four to six months. The spread is wide because the location matters as much as the size: tendon tissue heals far more slowly than muscle.

See a doctor if: Get it checked promptly if you felt a pop at the sitting bone, cannot walk without a limp after a few days, or have numbness or tingling running down the back of the leg.

What helps

• Start gentle, pain limited movement within the first days; long immobilization produces a stiffer, weaker scar.
• Train the muscle at length with eccentric work such as Nordic curls and Romanian deadlifts, added early and progressed steadily.
• Rebuild running in stages, from jogging to strides to full speed, and only return to competition once maximum sprinting is pain free.
• Keep hamstring strength work in the program permanently, since the reinjury risk stays high for months.
• Get imaging when a tear near the sitting bone is suspected, because that is the case where surgery is genuinely discussed.

Ankle Sprain

The outer ankle ligaments, above all the anterior talofibular ligament, overstretch or tear when the foot rolls inward under body weight. In track and field this happens on the curve, on an uneven runway or landing area, on the takeoff board, and when a hurdle trail leg catches. The ligament tissue also carries position sensors, so a sprain leaves both mechanical and balance deficits behind.

Symptoms

• Immediate pain on the outer side of the ankle after the foot turns in.
• Swelling that builds within the first hours, often with bruising below the ankle bone.
• Limping or reluctance to put full weight on the foot.
• A feeling that the ankle is loose or wants to give way on uneven ground.
• Stiffness the next morning that eases a little with movement.

How serious it is: Grade 1 means stretched fibers with mild swelling and near normal stability, grade 2 a partial tear with clear swelling and some instability, grade 3 a complete tear where the joint feels unstable. Pain over the bone rather than the ligament, or inability to take four steps, raises the suspicion of a fracture.

Typical time out: One to three weeks for a grade 1, three to six weeks for a grade 2, and two to three months for a grade 3 before full sprinting and jumping. Recovery drags on when balance training is skipped, because the ankle keeps rolling again.

See a doctor if: See a doctor if you cannot take four steps on the foot, if the bone itself is tender at the back edge of either ankle bone, or if the foot looks deformed.

What helps

• Load the ankle early within a pain limited range and walk normally as soon as you can; protected early movement beats days of resting the joint.
• Use a lace up brace or taping for the first weeks of return to sport, which measurably lowers the chance of a repeat sprain.
• Train balance daily, starting with single leg standing and progressing to unstable surfaces, hops, and landings with a turn.
• Strengthen the peroneal muscles on the outer lower leg with band work in eversion.
• Short cooling in the first hours can take the edge off the pain, and physical therapy is worth it if the ankle still feels unstable after six weeks.

Plantar Fasciitis

The plantar fascia, a thick sheet of connective tissue from the heel bone to the base of the toes, becomes painful where it attaches at the inner heel. Every push off loads it, and sprinting on the forefoot, spike work, and hard track surfaces load it hardest because the toes are extended while the arch flattens. Despite the name it is usually a degenerative overload of the tissue rather than a classic inflammation.

Symptoms

• Sharp heel pain with the first steps in the morning that eases after a few minutes of walking.
• Pain returning after sitting for a while, then easing again once you move.
• A tender spot on the inner front edge of the heel bone.
• Pain that worsens late in a session or after a day on your feet.
• Discomfort when you pull the toes up toward the shin.

How serious it is: There is no grading. Mild cases hurt for a few minutes in the morning and respond within weeks; the stubborn version has lasted months, hurts throughout the day, and changes the way you walk.

Typical time out: Six weeks to six months, and sometimes a year, though most athletes keep training in a reduced form the whole time. The spread is wide because the tissue adapts slowly and because most people only cut the load once the pain has already been present for months.

See a doctor if: Get it checked if the heel hurts at night at rest, if there is numbness or burning spreading into the sole, or if the pain started after a single hard landing rather than gradually.

What helps

• Do slow, heavy calf raises with the toes propped up on a rolled towel so the fascia is loaded at length, every other day for months.
• Cut spike volume and hard surface sprinting for a while and keep fitness with cycling or aqua running.
• Use a cushioned shoe with a slightly raised heel for everyday walking and consider an off the shelf arch support.
• Stretch calves and the sole of the foot regularly, and roll the sole over a cold bottle when it is irritable.
• See a physical therapist if there is no progress after two to three months; a corticosteroid injection may quiet the pain briefly but weakens the tissue and can lead to rupture, so it stays an exception.

Achilles Tendinitis

The Achilles tendon transfers the force of the calf muscles to the heel bone and takes several times body weight with every sprint step and every takeoff. Overload leads to a degenerative change in the tendon, either in the midportion a few centimeters above the heel or at the insertion on the heel bone itself. Sudden increases in speed work, hill sprints, and a switch to spikes with a low heel are the classic triggers.

Symptoms

• Stiffness and pain in the tendon with the first steps in the morning.
• Pain that warms up during the session and returns worse afterwards.
• A tender, sometimes thickened spot you can feel when you pinch the tendon.
• Loss of push off power in sprinting and jumping.
• Pain when rising onto the toes on one leg.

How serious it is: There is no formal grading, but the distinction that matters is the location: midportion problems respond well to loading, insertional problems near the heel bone are more stubborn and dislike deep stretching. A sudden pop with immediate loss of push off suggests a rupture, which is a different injury.

Typical time out: Three to six months of managed loading is typical, though most athletes train in modified form throughout. Cases caught within a few weeks can settle in six to twelve weeks, while a tendon that has been painful for a year needs much longer because the tissue itself has changed.

See a doctor if: Seek care the same day if you felt a sudden snap, cannot push off at all, or cannot rise onto the toes on that leg, since that suggests a rupture.

What helps

• Load the tendon on purpose: slow, heavy calf raises with both legs progressing to one leg, three times a week over months.
• For insertional pain keep the heel from dropping below the step and avoid deep stretching at first.
• Steer training load rather than stopping: cut speed work and hills, keep easy volume that leaves pain under a mild level and settled by the next morning.
• A temporary heel lift in training shoes can reduce peak tendon load while you build strength.
• Involve a physical therapist early for the loading progression; corticosteroid injections into the tendon are avoided because they are linked to further tissue damage and rupture.

Stress Fractures

Bone is living tissue that constantly rebuilds itself, and when the repeated impact of running outpaces that repair, small cracks form. In track and field these appear most often in the shin bone, the metatarsals of the forefoot, the navicular in the midfoot, and the pelvis. Rapid increases in mileage, low energy availability, and low bone density from disordered eating or absent menstrual periods all shift the balance toward damage.

Symptoms

• Pain at one small, precise spot that you can cover with a fingertip.
• Pain that starts later in a run and appears earlier and earlier over the following weeks.
• Pain that persists while walking, not just while running.
• Aching at night or at rest in the later stages.
• Sometimes mild swelling or tenderness directly over the bone.

How serious it is: Doctors separate low risk sites such as the shaft of the shin bone or the outer metatarsals, which heal reliably with reduced load, from high risk sites such as the front of the shin bone, the navicular, the femoral neck, and the pelvis, which can progress to a complete break and often need immobilization or surgery.

Typical time out: Six to eight weeks for a low risk stress fracture, and three to six months for a high risk site or one caught late. The spread is large because healing depends on the location, on how long you kept training on it, and on whether the underlying energy and bone health issue is corrected.

See a doctor if: See a doctor if a precise bony pain persists at rest or at night, or if pain sits in the groin, the hip, or the front edge of the shin, since those sites can worsen quickly.

What helps

• Stop the impact loading that causes pain and switch to cycling, swimming, or aqua running to keep fitness.
• Get imaging when a stress fracture is suspected, since plain X rays are often normal early and MRI settles the question.
• Address the cause: enough total calories and carbohydrate for the training load, plus adequate calcium and vitamin D.
• Return through a graded walk to run progression over weeks rather than resuming previous mileage at once.
• Have irregular or absent menstrual periods evaluated, because they usually signal an energy deficit that keeps bone weak.

Jumper’s Knee (Patellar Tendinitis)

The patellar tendon runs from the lower pole of the kneecap to the shin bone and takes very high loads during the takeoff and landing of jumps. The overloaded tissue at the upper end of the tendon degenerates rather than simply inflames. High jump, long jump, triple jump, and hurdles are the events that produce it, especially after a block of heavy jump volume on stiff surfaces.

Symptoms

• Pain at a defined point just below the kneecap.
• Pain that appears with jumping and hard deceleration rather than with straight ahead jogging.
• Stiffness at the start of a session that eases as you warm up and returns afterwards.
• Tenderness when you press the lower edge of the kneecap.
• Discomfort when sitting for a long time with the knee bent.

How serious it is: A common staging runs from pain only after activity, to pain at the beginning that fades during warm up, to pain throughout the session, to pain that stops you performing. The later stages take considerably longer to reverse.

Typical time out: Three to six months of managed loading is usual, with training continued in modified form. Early cases can settle in six to twelve weeks; a tendon that has hurt for a season rarely responds in less than half a year.

See a doctor if: Get it checked urgently if the knee gave way with a sudden snap and you cannot straighten the leg against gravity, which suggests a tendon rupture.

What helps

• Start with slow, heavy resistance work such as isometric wall sits and heavy split squats through a controlled range, then progress the depth.
• Cut the jumping and heavy deceleration volume for several weeks while keeping strength work going.
• Progress back to plyometrics only after strength has returned and pain during loading stays low.
• Address ankle and hip mobility limitations that push the load onto the knee during landings.
• Work with a physical therapist on the loading plan; injections into the tendon are avoided because they weaken it further.

Ankle Fractures

A fracture breaks one or more of the bones that form the ankle joint, usually the lower end of the fibula on the outer side, sometimes the inner malleolus of the shin bone as well. In track and field it happens with a violent twist on a curve, a bad landing in the pit, or a hurdle fall, and the same movement that causes a severe sprain can break the bone instead. The joining tissue between shin and fibula can tear along with it, which changes the treatment.

Symptoms

• Immediate severe pain and the feeling that something gave way.
• You cannot put weight on the foot or manage more than a step or two.
• Rapid, marked swelling and bruising around the joint.
• Visible deformity or an ankle that points the wrong way in severe cases.
• Sharp pain when the bone itself is touched, not just the soft tissue.

How serious it is: Fractures are classified by which bones are involved and whether the joint is still correctly aligned. A single, undisplaced break of the outer ankle bone with a stable joint is treated in a boot; a displaced or multi bone fracture, or one with a torn connection between shin and fibula, usually needs surgical fixation.

Typical time out: Six to twelve weeks to bone healing and three to six months before sprinting and jumping again, with nine months or more after a complex fracture with surgery. The spread reflects whether the joint surface was involved and how much stiffness has to be worked out afterwards.

See a doctor if: Go to emergency care immediately if the ankle is visibly out of shape, the skin over it is pale, cold, or numb, or bone has broken the skin.

What helps

• Get an X ray the same day; a fracture treated in the wrong position leaves lasting joint damage.
• Follow the weight bearing instructions exactly, since the schedule depends on the fracture pattern and not on how the ankle feels.
• Keep the rest of the body training with upper body and unaffected leg work while the ankle is protected.
• Start range of motion, calf strength, and balance work with a physical therapist as soon as it is permitted.
• Return to running only after you can walk normally and hop pain free on that leg, and rebuild jumping in stages.

Rotator Cuff Injury

Four muscles and their tendons, above all the supraspinatus, hold the head of the upper arm bone centered in the shallow shoulder socket. Repeated overhead loading in shot put, javelin, discus, hammer, and pole vault irritates or tears these tendons, and the bursa above them becomes painful as well. A fall onto an outstretched arm during a hurdle crash can tear the tendon in one moment instead.

Symptoms

• Pain on the outer upper arm, often felt more there than in the shoulder itself.
• Trouble lifting the arm sideways above shoulder height.
• Pain when lying on that shoulder at night.
• Weakness when throwing, or when reaching behind you to put on a jacket.
• A catching sensation in a particular part of the movement.

How serious it is: The range runs from tendon irritation with no structural tear, through a partial thickness tear, to a full thickness tear where the tendon has separated from the bone. Age matters: a traumatic full tear in a young athlete is usually repaired surgically, while degenerative partial tears are commonly managed with exercise first.

Typical time out: Six to twelve weeks for tendon irritation and a partial tear treated with exercise, and four to six months, sometimes longer, after a surgical repair, because the tendon has to reattach to bone before loading can resume. Throwers usually need the longer end of the range.

See a doctor if: See a doctor if you cannot lift the arm at all after a fall, or if there is numbness or clear weakness that does not improve within days.

What helps

• Progressive rotator cuff and shoulder blade strengthening is the main treatment and works as well as surgery in most non traumatic cases.
• Adjust throwing volume and technique instead of stopping entirely, keeping loads that stay under a mild pain level.
• Train the shoulder blade stabilizers and the thoracic spine, since a stiff upper back forces the shoulder into more strain.
• Give the program at least three months before judging it; tendon adaptation is slow.
• Get imaging and a surgical opinion if the arm was weak from the moment of a fall, or if strength does not return despite consistent rehabilitation.

SLAP Tear (Shoulder)

The labrum is a rim of cartilage that deepens the shoulder socket, and a SLAP tear runs through its upper part where the long head of the biceps tendon anchors. Throwing events load exactly this anchor during the cocking and follow through phases, and pole vaulting loads it when the arms take body weight overhead. A fall on an outstretched arm can tear it in one event.

Symptoms

• Deep pain inside the shoulder rather than on the surface.
• Pain at the point of maximum arm cocking in a throw.
• Clicking, catching, or a sense that the shoulder shifts.
• Loss of throwing velocity that you cannot explain by fitness.
• Discomfort lifting overhead or reaching behind the body.

How serious it is: Tears are typed I through IV depending on whether the labrum is only frayed, detached along with the biceps anchor, or split further into the biceps tendon. Type II, the detached anchor, is the one most often seen in throwers and the one most likely to need surgery.

Typical time out: Three to four months when it responds to rehabilitation, and six to twelve months before full throwing after surgical repair. The wide range exists because returning to competitive throwing after a repaired labrum is much less predictable than returning to everyday activity.

See a doctor if: Get it assessed if the shoulder feels like it slips out of place, or if you have numbness or weakness running down the arm.

What helps

• Start with several months of structured rehabilitation focused on rotator cuff, shoulder blade control, and hip and trunk strength; many throwers return without surgery.
• Have the throwing technique reviewed, since much of the load reaching the shoulder is generated by poor leg and trunk sequencing.
• Restore internal rotation range at the shoulder, which is commonly lost in throwers and shifts stress onto the labrum.
• Rebuild throwing in stages by distance and intensity rather than returning to full efforts at once.
• Consider MRI with contrast and a surgical opinion only when a structured program has failed, because results after repair in throwers are mixed.

Spine Fractures

Two very different problems share this name. The common one in track and field is a stress fracture of the pars interarticularis, a thin bridge of bone in the lower vertebrae, caused by repeated arching and twisting in pole vault, javelin, and high jump. The rare one is a traumatic vertebral fracture from a fall out of the pit or onto the runway, which involves the vertebral body itself.

Symptoms

• Lower back pain on one side that increases when you arch backwards.
• Pain that appears during vaulting, throwing, or jumping and eases with rest.
• Stiffness in the morning and after sitting.
• Pain that slowly worsens over weeks rather than starting in one moment.
• After a fall, immediate severe back pain with any movement.

How serious it is: A stress reaction in the bone that has not yet cracked heals reliably with load reduction, a developed stress fracture takes longer, and a fracture that has already progressed to a slipped vertebra needs specialist care. A traumatic fracture is graded by whether the vertebra is stable and whether the spinal canal is involved.

Typical time out: Three to six months for a pars stress fracture, since the bone is thin and poorly supplied with blood, and three to twelve months for a traumatic fracture depending on stability and whether surgery was needed. The range is wide because bone healing here is slow and returning to arching movements has to wait for it.

See a doctor if: Get emergency care after a fall with back pain plus numbness, weakness in the legs, or any loss of bladder or bowel control.

What helps

• Stop the arching and twisting movements that provoke it and get imaging, since plain X rays often miss an early pars fracture.
• Follow the medical plan on bracing and timeline, because bone in this location heals slowly and reinjury is common.
• Build deep trunk and hip strength so the lower back has less arching to absorb.
• Have the technique reviewed, particularly the plant and swing phase in vault and the trunk position in javelin.
• Return to arching and impact movements in graded steps only once the pain has been gone for weeks at lower loads.

First Aid for Soft Tissue Injuries: PEACE and LOVE

Sports medicine has moved on from RICE. The current guidance, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine in 2019, splits care into the first days after the injury and everything that follows.

PEACE, the first two to three days

• Protect: unload the area and limit movement that hurts, but only briefly.
• Elevate: keep the limb above heart level when you can.
• Avoid anti-inflammatories: they may blunt the healing you need.
• Compress: a bandage or taping limits swelling.
• Educate: your body heals this on its own; passive treatments rarely speed it up.

LOVE, from day three onward

• Load: return to movement as pain allows, early loading builds tissue.
• Optimism: expectations shape recovery more than most people assume.
• Vascularization: easy cardio that does not hurt brings blood to the area.
• Exercise: restore strength, mobility and balance before returning to play.

Ice still helps with pain in the first hours. What changed is the evidence that long icing and routine anti-inflammatory drugs slow tissue repair.

How to Lower Your Risk in Track And Field

• Raise sprint and jump volume in small steps and separate hard speed days by at least 48 hours, because the tissues that fail in this sport are the ones loaded at maximum speed.
• Keep eccentric hamstring work such as Nordic curls in the program all year, not only in preseason, since a previous hamstring tear is the strongest predictor of the next one.
• Build calf and Achilles capacity with slow, heavy calf raises before increasing spike work, and introduce spikes gradually rather than switching for a whole session at once.
• Match energy intake to the training load and treat irregular or absent menstrual periods as a warning sign, because low energy availability is what turns normal running load into stress fractures.
• Have throwers train shoulder blade control and hip and trunk sequencing, so the arm is not asked to generate force the legs should have produced.
• Check the runway, the takeoff board, and the landing area before jump sessions and train landings and curve running deliberately, since most ankle sprains happen when the foot meets something it did not expect.

When to Stop and Get Medical Help

Most of the injuries on this page are treated at home. These signs are not.

• A limb or joint that looks deformed, points the wrong way, or has bone visible through the skin.
• Any head impact with loss of consciousness, confusion, vomiting, or worsening headache.
• Numbness, tingling, or weakness in an arm or leg, or any loss of bladder or bowel control after a back injury.
• Inability to put weight on a leg or take a few steps after a twist or a fall.
• A joint that cannot be moved at all, or that gave way with an audible snap.
• Rapid swelling with a cold, pale, or bluish limb below the injury.

Sources

• Hopkins C, Williams J, Rauh MJ, Zhang L. Epidemiology of NCAA Track and Field Injuries From 2010 to 2014. Orthop J Sports Med. 2022
• Chandran A, Morris SN, Roby PR, Boltz AJ, Robison HJ, Collins CL. Epidemiology of Injuries in National Collegiate Athletic Association Women’s Track and Field: 2014-2015 Through 2018-2019. J Athl Train. 2021;56(7):780-787

This article is general information, not medical advice. If you are hurt, a doctor or physiotherapist who can examine you is worth more than any web page. Last reviewed: August 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions