Water Polo : Injuries

Injuries

Minor Injuries

Minor injuries occur frequently in water polo. Most of these injuries do not require medical aid and can be treated at home. Some of the most common injuries are sunburns and eye irritation. Sunburn can be prevented by the application of sunscreen, however players will often neglect applying sunscreen as this will impair the player's ability to grip the ball and rapidly deteriorate the ball's physical grip due to the oily nature of sunscreen. Having large amounts of sunscreen on during an official match is banned by FINA and most other state/national governing bodies. With so much movement in the water, having a sunburn can restrict that movement. Eye irritation is also common, which is mostly due to the large amount of chlorine in pools. It is nearly impossible to prevent this. To treat simply put eye drops in the affected eye. In addition, it is quite common for minor cuts and bruising to occur due to close contact with other players and the ball.

 Major Injuries

Due to the close contact nature of water polo, serious injuries do happen. There is very little protection gear to protect the players. Only swim suits and a cap with ear protectors are worn. Among the most common serious injuries are those affecting the head and shoulders. Those induced to the head are usually caused by elbows or the ball itself. One case would be when the defense guards the offense, the defense are right behind offense trying to steal the ball or trying to stop the ball from scoring or being passed. So as a result of the offense trying to shake off the defense to either score or pass the ball, a lot of elbowing and forceful removal from the defensive grab is needed. Many times the head being the main body part out of the water is injured in such a way. Many times these injuries are intentional and can sometimes anger many players to take revenge. Another common injury would be in the shoulder. Throwing or shooting the ball with a "cold arm" can strain the shoulder if not warmed up properly. Also occasionally, the defensive player will sometimes pull the arm to foul the offensive player. This can also injure the shoulder. With the arm, fingers are also usually harmed, due to not catching the ball right or blocking the ball. Many sprained fingers or on a more serious scale, fractured fingers has resulted from water polo. One of the most injured player on the field are the goalies. They have to endure the ball thrown at them at a fast speed and are expected to either catch it or "throw it down" to prevent the ball from going into the goal and scoring. When blocking shots the ball can hit the fingers instead of the whole hand causing fractures and strains.Goalies have also been known to suffer nosebleeds. Other injuries take place underwater as many things can not be seen from above the surface and not much padding is used to protect the players.