While it is not pleasant to think about, a split toenail is more common than you may think, especially amongst athletes whose feet take a beating. Whether it is from overuse, like a marathoner, or from being stepped on hard, like a football player, soccer player, or basketball player, a split toenail can be an extremely painful injury that has a serious effect on an athlete's ability to perform.

An ankle sprain typically happens when the ankle is rolled in one direction or the other and the ligaments and tendons, which give it support and hold it upright, are stretched too far. The result is a painful injury that can lead to swelling and immobility. Bearing in mind that the best advice for any major injury is always given by your doctor, you can administer home treatment of a sprained ankle yourself and there are several steps that you can take in order to alleviate the pain and aid in the healing process.

A shin splint is a painful overuse injury that is common to runners, or other athletes who may be doing a lot of running as part of a conditioning program for another sport. Sharp pain on the outside edge of the shin is the most common symptom.

One of the most difficult things for athletes to do, especially in extreme weather conditions, is to regulate their body temperature. On a hot day the body generates heat during exercise at faster rate than the atmosphere will allow it to dissipate. In extreme circumstances, even the atmosphere can make the body temperature rise, let alone allow it to dissipate heat itself.

While it can seem rather trivial, a jammed finger can be a very painful injury. Because our fingers need to be sensitive to touch and to have a lot of dexterity, they have a huge amount of nerve endings. This large bunching of nerve endings means that an injury can be quite painful.

We have all seen athletes in the Olympics or major marathons stumbling stiffly across the finish line, bent over and grimacing in pain. The problem is not a serious injury or fatigue, the problem is that their bodies have run out of the fuel they need to keep going. They have literally exhausted their resources and the body no longer has any fuel left in reserve. The muscles begin to tighten and cramp as the body begins to shut down from all the hard work it has been forced to do.

We have all had bloody noses as kids. A bloody nose can be cause from something as simple as the air being too dry, to some other underlying symptom that is far more serious. In sports, the cause is usually pretty clear. A wayward blow from an elbow, a ball, some other piece of equipment or even the ground can make you see stars.

A very common and painful problem for all athletes are foot blisters. Several different factors can cause a foot blister with a combination of poorly fitted shoes and repetitive movement being the most frequent cause. It has been said that foot blisters can literally stop an army in their tracks. Read on for some tips on how to treat a foot blister and more importantly, how to prevent them in the first place.

We have all heard someone say at one point or another that they have pulled a muscle, but do any of us really understand what a pulled muscle is? A pulled muscle is a very common sports injury that occurs when the muscle fiber has been over stretched and begins to tear. Sometimes bleeding will occur from the tears and a bruise will form over the sore area.

Occasionally an athlete will put undue stress on tendons and joints during a training program. When this happens there is the risk that the individual may develop a case of tendonitis. Tendonitis occurs when a tendon rubs repeatedly over a joint, causing friction. The friction in turn causes soreness and inflammation. This can be a painful condition, which causes stiffness and can limit mobility.