Common Boxing Injuries

Boxing, as any sport, comes with the inherent risk of injury.  The first to jump to mind may be the injuries sustained in the ring, such as: Concussion, Fractured Ribs and Broken Noses.  However, before we even get into the ring, we need to consider the common boxing injuries and presentation that are sustained during training.

Boxing is a high intensity, high repetition and high impact sport, and as such the training often matches this, posing the athlete at risk of both overuse and impact injuries.

Boxing Neck Injuries

Whiplash or cervical (neck) stiffness may present due to several training situations.  Firstly, in sparring where you are likely to sustain a few head shots.  Similarly, avoidance tactics such as the slip require quick head movements which can result in acute muscular spasm and joint stiffness.

Furthermore, boxing training as well as the fighting and protective postures encourages a ‘closed off’ posture. This often looks like rounding and elevation through the shoulders and upper back. This can lead to both neck and shoulder pain due to the change in biomechanics.

Boxing Shoulder Injuries

Pain in the shoulders can stem from repetitive loading through the punching movement, or as mentioned above may be secondary to postural changes leading to issues such as sub-acromial impingement. Without professionally programmed and guided strength training to prepare the muscles, such as those of the rotator cuff, the muscles and passive structures (ligaments, tendons, joints) can become overloaded and sustain injury.

Boxing Elbow Injuries

Elbow pain, when boxing, may stem from repetitive overextension, or tendonitis symptoms in the tricep and forearm muscle groups. This is due to the repeated, high force muscular contractions.

Boxing Wrist Injuries

During boxing training you transmit a repetitive and relatively substantial force through your hand and wrist. This can cause instability within the hand, the most common injuries are carpometacrapal or scapholunate instability, joint sprains, thumb and ulnar collateral ligament sprains.

Boxing Lower Back Injuries

Some boxers may report lower back stiffness due to the shear forces imposed on the active and passive structures during rotational movements. Common conditioning training methods like running and skipping may also load the back in extension which can lead to pain or stiffness in the lower back.

East Perth Trained Physio Can Help

Our East Perth Trained Physio’s can provide a thorough assessment of your current and previous training, taking into account all lifestyle factors that may be adding to your injury or pain state. A full body and movement assessment will identify any weakness, imbalances or loading issues and can provide you with movement retraining and strength and conditioning programming and load management advice to keep you training and prevent or resolve any current injuries!

East Perth Trained Physio

Did you know at Trained Physio we have a fully equipped rehabilitation facility?  Check out the details here.  Physiotherapy has several goals including promote healing, reduce pain, avoiding aggravation, optimising physical function and global strengthening to restore normal movement patterns.  To see how I can help you  BOOK ONLINE TODAY

Written by: Olivia Strelein

BSc. Physiotherapy (Honours)
BSc. Exercise and Sport Science
Personal Trainer