Nearly everyone has been winded at some point in their sporting career - it's never a nice experience - but how does it happen?

WHO CAN IT HAPPEN TO?

Anyone involved in contact or ball sports.

HOW DOES IT HAPPEN?

Usually by a blow to the abdomen. Think a football being blasted into you, but sometimes it can happen when you fall to the ground heavily.

WHAT HAPPENS TO MY BODY?

The technical name for being winded is to receive "a blunt trauma to the solar plexus".

These are the nerves behind the stomach.

The impact causes the pressure to change in the diaphragm, which is the large muscle which divides your stomach and abdomen from your heart and lungs.

The diaphragm goes into spasm and contracts painfully, making it hard for your lungs to breathe in and out.

Once the muscle stops cramping, you're able to catch your breath again.

TREATMENT?

Encourage the affected person to assume a crouching position so muscles can relax.

RETURN?

Within fifteen minutes unless there is a more serious problem with the abdominal and respiratory muscles.