Musculoskeletal injury refers to damage of muscular or skeletal systems, which is usually due to a strenuous activity and includes damage to skeletal muscles, bones, tendons, joints, ligaments, and other affected soft tissues. In one study, roughly 25% of approximately 6300 adults received a musculoskeletal injury of some sort within 12 months—of which 83% were activity-related. Musculoskeletal injury spans into a large variety of medical specialties including orthopedic surgery (with diseases such as arthritis requiring surgery), sports medicine, emergency medicine (acute presentations of joint and muscular pain) and rheumatology (in rheumatological diseases that affect joints such as rheumatoid arthritis).
Musculoskeletal injuries can affect any part of the human body including; bones, joints, cartilages, ligaments, tendons, muscles, and other soft tissues. Symptoms include mild to severe aches, low back pain, numbness, tingling, atrophy and weakness. These injuries are a result of repetitive motions and actions over a period of time. Tendons connect muscle to bone whereas ligaments connect bone to bone. Tendons and ligaments play an active role in maintaining joint stability and controls the limits of joint movements, once injured tendons and ligaments detrimentally impact motor functions. Continuous exercise or movement of a musculoskeletal injury can result in chronic inflammation with progression to permanent damage or disability.
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