[i][/i]Chronic pain in the musculoskeletal system among judo athletes

One of the major negative aspects of competitive sports is excessive strain on the body which often leads to bodily injuries. Over the last years the incidence of sports injuries has increased due to growing physical proficiency. In 1975 in England there were 5% of hospitalized sports injuries. In 1990 the percentage reached 17 and in 2000 it was 23-28%. In Eu rope 50-60% of sports injuries concern footballers. The most common injuries include: ankle sprains and muscle strains [1-4]. Stretching exercises are very important in the prophylaxis of sports injuries. Another important element is strengthening postural muscles (back muscles, quadriceps, sciatic-tibial muscles) and improving central stabilization and eliminating asymmetry. As an element of prophylaxis, athletes and coa ches should be provided with extensive information on the course of action in case of sports injuries and the consequences of failure to complete a full recovery and premature return to trainings [5, 6]. Unfortunately, these days athletes motivated by desire to achieve great success put their body under excessive strain, compete although they have not completed recovery and train in spite of the pain [7-10]. The principal cognitive aim of this paper was to characterize the types of pain experienced by professional judo athletes.