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When you participate in sports and physical fitness activities, you can injure the soft tissues of your body. Even simple everyday activities can damage these ligaments, tendons and muscles.

Some of the soft-tissue injuries you're most likely to experience include:

• sprains
• strains
• contusions
• tendonitis
• bursitis
• stress injuries

Any of these can be the result of a single episode, such as a fall, a sudden twist or a blow to the body. You might also sustain one or more of these injuries because of repeated overuse, such as in ongoing athletic activities. In this case, small amounts of body stress accumulate slowly but steadily. The result can be damage and pain.

Here are some of the injuries you're most likely to experience, along with suggested ways of treating them.

Sprains
The joints of your body are supported by ligaments - strong bands of connective tissue that connect one bone to another. A sprain is a simple stretch or tear of the ligaments.

The areas of your body that are most vulnerable to sprains are your ankles, knees and wrist. A sprained ankle can occur when your foot turns inward. This can put extreme tension on the ligaments of your outer ankle and cause a sprain. A sprained knee can be the result of a sudden twist. Wrist sprains most often occur when you fall on an outstretched hand.

Most mild sprains heal with "R.I.C.E." (rest, ice, compression and elevation) and exercise. Moderate sprains may also require a period of bracing. The most severe sprains may require surgery to repair torn ligaments.

Strains
Your bones are supported by a combination of muscles and tendons. Tendons connect muscles to bones. A strain is the result of an injury to either a muscle or a tendon, usually in your foot or leg. The strain may be a simple stretch in your muscle or tendon, or it may be a partial or complete tear in the muscle-and-tendon combination.

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