There has always been a debate about whether artificial turf should be used when it comes to professional sports like football and baseball. One of the reasons why professional athletes don’t like artificial turf and prefer natural grass is because the grass is a lot softer which makes it easier when they fall or get tackled. There are also other reason why athletes are against the turf is because it can cause injury. A common injury caused by the turf is called turf toe. What causes turf toe and how can it be treated?
Here is some information about the problem
The reason why it’s called turf toe is because the condition is caused because artificial turf is a lot harder than grass. It is basically when you sprain your big toe. How the big toe gets the sprain is because professional athletes use cleats and when they push off against the rough surface of the turf sometimes the metal cleats get caught. The cleats can get stuck in the surface of the artificial turf and when the athlete pushes off to run it can cause the ligaments to become over stretched
The first indication that you may have sprained your toe is the pain that you feel at the base of your big toe. Some athletes say that they hear a pop of the ligaments being over stretched. Another indication of a turf toe is the swelling of the big toe joint. With the pain and the swelling of the big toe it can make it very difficult and painful to walk.
Your doctor will ask you a lot of questions before he decides whether or not you have turf toe. He may ask about the sports you play, the kind of shoes you wear, and any family history of foot problems and pain. He will probably order an X-ray and MRI or a CT scan to determine exactly what is going on with your foot.
The best way to treat turf toe is rest your foot and allow the ligaments in your big toe to heal. This will mean staying off of your feet for a while, but it is really the only way to make sure the ligaments can get the healing time they need. There are also inserts that doctors can prescribe as a way to keep the injury from happening again. These specially designed shoe inserts will support the foot, and also protect the big toe joint.
Turf toe is an injury that professional athletes can sometimes suffer from as a result of playing sports on artificial turf. Artificial turf might look like natural grass, but the truth is that it is a lot harder than the real grass. Though a lot of athletes protest the use of artificial turf because it’s hard, and another reason is because falling on it can cause them injury. Turf toe is one of the injuries that professional athletes suffer from the most because of how hard the surface of the artificial turf is. You should gain proper rest and special shoe inserts. Athletes can protect their big toe joints and continue playing the games they love.