Cheerleading Injuries

Common Types of Cheerleading Injuries

The most common types of cheerleading injuries fall into three categories: sprains, strains and breaks to the joints or limbs. Sprains refer to tendons and ligaments, strains to muscles and breaks (obviously) to bones. All three can be severe. For example, strains may mean muscle tissue is on the verge of tearing, and a sprain may take a very long time to heal simply because tendons are made of tissue that is slow to repair itself. The way to find out which of these three types an injury is will always be the same, although the limb should be immobilized and professional medical help found as soon as possible. It is impossible to determine whether a bone is broken or not by "feeling" it or trying to "walk it off"; hairline fractures or bone bruises can both be missed.

Unfortunately, the head is also often the subject of injury since no protective equipment is usually worn for even the highest-flying stunts. Some of these may be relatively minor, such as a bloody nose where the treatment is as simple as applying pressure to the nose. However, the medical treatment of any injury should actually be dictated by a medical professional.

Bases especially are vulnerable to head injuries from various parts of the flyers coming down and hitting them in the eyes or mouth. Teeth are often lost from these kinds of impacts. Even worse, any impact to the head can result in concussion, and (as in every other case) medical evaluation is necessary. It is important that the individual with a potential head injury stay awake until he or she can receive professional help; loss of consciousness is a clear signal that emergency help is needed.

Likewise, flyers are also in danger of catastrophic head injuries. Unfortunately, even with the best safety precautions, sometimes flyers go up in the air only to land on the hard ground below instead of being caught by teammates. When this happens, the injury is almost always serious. Even if the cheerleader seems okay, the incident certainly should be treated as a catastrophic cheerleading injury.

The Dangers of Cheerleading

Thankfully, most schools have EMTs or other medical professionals at most sporting events. Surprisingly, they are usually not for the cheerleaders – in fact, in most states, cheerleading is considered an "activity" like chess or French club, not an actual sport. This is in spite of the fact that cheerleading is responsible for more injuries than all the other women's sports put together.

Incidents of injury can be reduced by several methods:

• Coaches can be trained in proper flying, tumbling and other movement techniques so as to more accurately evaluate the danger of a given stunt and teach it appropriately.
• Schools can invest in safety equipment such as proper cheerleading shoes, mats and rehearsal spaces for their cheer squads.
• Cheerleaders can make sure they are only performing when they are feeling 100% able, especially if they are involved in any of the more complicated stunts.

The ultra-competitive nature of cheerleaders will often lead them to try to dismiss or cover up an injury for fear of letting down the rest of the team, so it is imperative that the coaches and squad members help them heal. The most effective way to do that is to let them know the best way to help the team is to get better the fastest and way possible, and that means not re-injuring themselves. Giving them things to do on the sidelines – taking notes during practice, coming up with new routines, or even videotaping performances – can help squad members stay involved and productive while cheerleading injuries heal.