Fit and Well: How to prevent pickleball injuries

TWIN FALLS, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) — With warmer temperatures on the horizon, a favorite outdoor sport, pickleball, is gaining popularity. With that comes the potential for more injuries.

If you don’t know, pickleball combines tennis, bad mittens and table tennis, and it is gaining popularity.

Injuries can be shared, especially among older players, including rotator cuff inflammation, bicep tears, and knee issues.

Luke Sugden, a sports medicine physician at St. Luke’s, shared how you can help prevent this from happening.

“Warming up a little bit before you go out on the court, get the blood pumping and sort of help flex those muscles a little bit,” Sugden said. “As our tendons accrue experience and birthdays, they tend to get a little stiffer. If you go right out to a high octane activity like that, you increase the risk of a tendon injury.”

If you do get hurt, he recommended taking some anti-inflammatory medication and taking it easy for a few days. If the injury is severe enough, a steroid injection may be used.

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