If you’ve injured a joint before, you’re at greater risk for another injury. Throwing a ball may make you more prone to a shoulder injury. Sports like weightlifting, tennis, or gymnastics might increase your risk of elbow and wrist hyperextension. For example, contact sports and sports that require fast, frequent directional changes like basketball and soccer can put your knees and ankles at risk. If you regularly play sports, your joints may be more prone to hyperextension injuries. Here are some factors that may increase your risk: Just about anyone can hyperextend a joint, but some people are at a higher risk of these types of injuries.

It’s important to make sure it heals correctly so you don’t lose stability and range of motion. When the ligaments that support your ankle stretch too far, you can sprain or hyperextend your ankle. Shoulder hyperextension injuries can also occur following trauma such as a fall. These motions are common in certain sports, such as swimming, baseball, and javelin throwing. Hyperextension and instability of the shoulder can occur when the shoulder joint is over-rotated due to repetitive motions. This can make your shoulder more prone to injury. Your shoulder is one of the most mobile joints in your body, but it’s also one of the most unstable. However, most people recover completely without any long-term consequences. You may have pain and stiffness for several days or even weeks after this type of injury. The most obvious example of whiplash is when you’re in a car accident and the impact makes your neck snap forward then suddenly backward. You may know a hyperextension injury of the neck by another more common name: whiplash.

However, with a more severe injury, the ligaments and tissues that help stabilize the joint can tear and may require more intensive treatment. With a minor injury, the ligaments might get a little stretched. Have you ever sprained a finger trying to catch a ball? If so, you no doubt know what the pain feels like when your finger joint bends in the wrong direction. Hyperextension of the elbow occurs when your elbow joint bends too far backward, beyond being fully straight.Īfter such an injury, you may need to keep your elbow immobilized for some time to make sure it heals correctly and to ensure that you don’t lose stability in the joint. A hyperextension injury of the knee can cause pain and swelling. When this happens, it may damage the ligaments that provide stability to the knee. In other words, it’s forced in the opposite direction of how it normally bends. This type of injury occurs when the knee is forcefully bent backward, beyond fully straight. However, some joints, like those listed below, are more prone to these injuries than others. What are the most common types of hyperextension injuries?Ī hyperextension injury can happen to many of the joints in your body.

Hyper extension