SPORTS INJURIES
Our physiotherapists understand that good management of a sports injury is key, which is why we do more than just treat the problem. We investigate the cause of your injury and work with you to try and prevent the problem from reoccurring.
Sports Specific
When assessing, diagnosing and treating a sports injury, we consider the skills and physical demands involved in your specific sport, along with the movement patterns and training required to achieve optimum performance. All of these aspects need to be analysed to ensure that your rehabilitation programme helps you return to your sport stronger, more stable and conditioned than before your injury.
Acute Injuries
Acute injuries may be due to extrinsic causes, such as a direct blow, either as a result of contact with another player or equipment, or intrinsic causes, such as a ligament sprain or muscle tear.
Overuse Injuries
Overuse injuries present three challenges to the physiotherapist:
• diagnosis
Requires taking a comprehensive history of the onset, nature and site of the pain, along with a thorough assessment of potential risk factors, for example training and technique. Careful examination may reveal which anatomical structure is affected.
• mechanism
A cause must be sought for every overuse injury. The cause may be quite evident, such as increases in training quantity, poor footwear, biomechanical abnormality, or may be more subtle, such as muscle imbalance. The causes are usually divided into extrinsic factors such as training, surfaces, shoes, equipment and environmental conditions, or intrinsic factors such as malalignment, leg length discrepancy, muscle imbalance, muscle weakness, lack of flexibility and body composition.
• treatment
From the diagnosis and mechanism of injury, a sports specific treatment programme will be determined, that can allow a safe, timely return to sport while reducing the risk of re-injury. This can include electrotherapy modalities (ultrasound and pulsed shortwave diathermy), manual therapy, soft tissue massage, stretching and a home exercise programme. The physiotherapist will evaluate the effectiveness of each type of treatment, by comparing symptoms before and after, and this will enable them to choose the most appropriate mode of treatment for the specific injury and the specific individual.