Since boxing is a high-impact sport, many boxers suffer from an injury at some point in their careers.
While most injuries in boxing are avoidable and easily healed, others are more severe and have long-lasting effects.
This article will discuss the most common boxing injuries, their causes, and tips on how to avoid them.
What Are The Most Common Boxing Injuries?
Some of the most common boxing injuries are:
- Concussions
- Facial Injuries
- Shoulder Dislocation
- Hand Injuries
- Sprains
It’s important to note that only a couple are inflicted by your opponent (concussion and facial injuries).
The rest are all self-inflicted and are located in the upper body, specifically the shoulders and hands.
Save for ankle sprains, your lower body will probably be fine throughout your boxing training.
Knowing this, you should pay attention to your body for signs that you are overexerting yourself.
To prolong your boxing career, you should have a well-rounded training program that focuses on injury prevention.
Concussions
First, boxers can suffer from concussions.
These are caused by repeated blows to the head. They don’t have to be heavy shots to have a notable effect on you.
According to research, concussions can be caused by a number of light shots taken over a long period of time.
Head injuries sustained have a cumulative effect on boxers, and a long to non-existent recovery time.
After many years fighting, professional boxers can still feel the effects of concussion from punches that they took long ago.
Because we want to box for as long as possible in our lives, we don’t spar more than once or twice a week unless we’re preparing for a fight.
Since there is no way to heal a concussion, it’s important to know how to prevent them:
- Keep your hands up
- Don’t spar too often
- Level up your defense
- Use well-fitting headgear
Facial Injuries
Next, boxers can suffer from various facial injuries.
These can include:
- Broken noses
- Open wounds
- Retina (eye) injuries
The risk of these injuries is higher in professional boxing since head gear isn’t allowed.
While broken noses can be mended and open wounds can be stitched closed, retina injuries require professional help and are some of the most severe head injuries you can get from boxing.
With broken noses and open wounds, you can be back in training next week, but with a damaged retina, you may be out for months.
To prevent or reduce the risk of facial injuries:
- Keep your hands up
- Use well-fitting head gear
- Put petroleum jelly or Vaseline on your face before sparring
Shoulder Dislocation
Next, boxers can suffer from shoulder dislocation.
This is one of the most common shoulder injuries in boxing. If you push your shoulders too hard by punching, even with proper form, you are susceptible to this injury.
It can also be accompanied by a strained or torn rotator cuff and intense shoulder pain.
Unlike the other injuries mentioned, this one can be caused simply by missing a heavy punch. Your rotator cuff can’t handle the speed of your punch and may tear or even detach from its socket.
Because these take months to fully heal, including with physical therapy, all boxers should know how to prevent shoulder injuries.
What makes these injuries particularly troublesome is that the risk of reinjuring yourself increases after each time it happens.
To prevent or reduce the risk of a shoulder dislocation:
- Strengthen your shoulder muscles
- Don’t overuse weights when shadowboxing
- Tape your shoulders
Hand Injuries
Next, boxers can suffer from various hand injuries.
These can include:
- Boxer’s fracture
- Carpal bossing
- Bennett’s (wrist) fracture
These injuries affect heavy punchers especially, since they put their hands at risk with repeated impact.
Even with proper punching form and well-fitting hand wraps, the bones in your wrists and knuckles are vulnerable to these injuries.
While these common injuries can be treated with cold therapy and rest, your hands are susceptible to further injury if put under intense stress again.
Like shoulder injuries, what makes hand injuries troublesome is that the risk of reinjuring yourself increases after each time it happens.
When you hear fans and commentators say that Floyd Mayweather Jr. has “fragile hands”, this is what they mean.
To prevent or reduce the risk of hand injuries:
- Use protective equipment (well-fitting gloves and hand wraps)
- Use good punching technique
- Use punching bag alternatives
Sprains
Lastly, boxers can suffer from various sprains.
These can include:
- Knee sprains
- Ankle sprains
- Wrist sprains
These injuries come from hard training sessions when you don’t have a proper boxing recovery regimen.
Depending on the severity and location of the strain, it can take anywhere from weeks to months to properly heal.
Pay special attention to sore muscles that are slow to recover; these muscles are particularly susceptible to sprains.
If you notice this, it’s best to avoid using that particular muscle for some time.
To prevent or reduce the risk of these strains:
- Warm up before and cool down after a workout
- Stretch
- Rest after hard workouts
- Get help from a physical therapist
Conclusion
Now that you know the most common boxing injuries, you can take steps to reduce the chances of them happening to you.
The most common injuries from boxing are preventable. While some of them heal easily, others have long-lasting effects and should be avoided.
Most of these injuries are caused by the boxers themselves during regular training.
While many people relate boxing with broken noses and bloody cuts during a championship fight, these are the minority when it comes to injuries.
As long as you’re adequately prepared, you can prevent injury and continue to train hard.
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