[Aspects of Rehabilitation of Spinal Injuries in Sports: Differences between Competitive and Recreational Sports]

In today's leisure society, sporting activities are becoming increasingly important for both younger and older people. Sport is generally considered to be healthy, but depending on the type of sport, intensity, gender, age and willingness to take risks, there is always a potential risk of injury in recreational and, above all, competitive/high performance sport, whereby high-impact and high-risk sports have contributed to an increase in the frequency of injuries, especially to the spine. However, when all sports injuries are taken together, winter sports in particular play the biggest role in sportsrelated spinal injuries, accounting for around 50%, which is why this article will focus on this in particular. While in competitive sports, the focus in many sports is always on maintaining performance after an injury and, particularly with regard to the financial consequences for professional athletes, on returning to sport as quickly as possible, in popular and everyday sports the focus is generally on the fullest possible convalescence regardless of time aspects and, for athletes who are still working, on maintaining their ability to work. However, there is little reliable data on rehabilitation after spinal injuries in Germany, if at all, primarily in competitive and high-performance sport, where systematic injury monitoring is carried out by the Verwaltungs-Berufsgenossenschaft for some types of sport. When and with what objectives rehabilitation after a spinal injury makes sense, especially in popular sports, is explained below.