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Sports Physiotherapy

What is Sports Physiotherapy?

Sports Physiotherapy is a subsection of Physiotherapy. Sports Physio involves returning a person or athlete to pre-injury function. Sports Physiotherapists help athletes usually with sports injury’s – Athletes who sustain a sports injury require different care to those who suffer injury on the day to day, this is because athletes place larger loads and demands on their bodies than the average person. These loads effect the muscles, ligaments, tendons and bones in different ways and as such their recovery programs must be tailored individually to the athlete and their sport.

What should you do when you suffer a sports Injury and When should you do it?

Sports injury can occur in many ways, some are from internal forces and fatigue which can lead to muscle and tendon tears, some from overuse of tissue which leads to gradual breakdown from inadequate recovery such as tendon and at tomes bone injury. Some injuries are caused from high trauma and high forces such as collision injuries these can often lead to bone breaks and concussions. There are different care protocols that pertain to different sports injury so it is imperative to seek or see your Sports Physiotherapist as soon as you are able to after injury. It is important to note also that research is continually being updated about sports injury management and we try to keep you as well as ourselves to date to ensure you receive the best care.

General Care Tips For Sports Injury from A Sports Physiotherapist

DO NO HARM this basically means don’t make it worse than what it is!

Rest used to be the key advice given from clinicians, however, we now know much better than we did! Controlled rest is required, this does not mean bed rest. What we try to advise is we keep the person moving as comfortably as we can without performing movements that stimulate or reproduce your pain symptoms for the first 48 to 72 hours. This is because this is the acute inflammatory period of the injury, however, we want to ensure that we try to get moving as soon as we can after this.

Acute Muscle Tears or Ligament and Tendon Strains from Sports Injury

These are classed as Soft tissue injuries, for some general advice regarding how to best care for these types of sports injury’s please read on! Remember its best to consult with your Inertia Sports Physio as all injuries differ and all management programs are individualised.

Should I Ice My Sports Injury?

The General advice here is to contain inflammation not eliminate it. Our bodies need inflammation as a means to heal injured areas. Therefore we recommend ICE or forms of cold therapy. We recommend as a general rule of thumb 20mins every 2 hours. We also want to certainly steer well clear of anti-inflammatory medications during this time as we want controlled inflammation to ensure all the components for healing are present at the site, however, pain relievers such as Panadol are usually ok to take or sometimes you may be prescribed other forms of pain killers. It is important to check with your pharmacist or General Practitioner before beginning to take some of these medications.

Why not heat?

Heat packs and heat rubs feel great, they generally relax the muscles and increase blood flow. However, in the first 48-72 hours, there is a high chance they could be detrimental to your healing. As we mentioned earlier we want controlled inflammation, too much inflammation through too much blood flow or an overstimulation of the inflammatory cascade can lead to increased pain and delayed healing. Therefore more time on the side lines. Generally we would recommend holding off heat for at a minimum 72 hours but even still we recommend you consult your Inertia Sports Physiotherapist for advice as this may still be too soon depending on the severity of your injury and type of injury. The benefits to heat therapy are related to improved blood flow (vasodilation increases nutrients and oxygen to the site of injury), increased metabolism at the site and increased elasticity of the connective tissue which can improve range of movement.

Is it important to wear a compression bandage after a Sports Injury?

Simply put yes you should wear a compression bandage after a muscle sports injury. Its all about controlling swelling and inflammation particularly over the first few days. It can assist with comfort of movement, this will encourage the new scar tissue that gets laid down to become more linear and functional.

Should I Elevate my sports Injury ?

Generally the advice is to elevate where possible. This assists in settling and clearing the inflammation and works most effectively for upper limb and lower limb injuries.

What if I have more severe damage than some general Muscle Tendon or Ligament Injury? Such as a bone break, joint dislocation or a concussion?

For more significant trauma related injuries it is usually best to consult with an emergency physician particularly if there is no physiotherapist as a first responder.

Bone Breaks

Should be imaged ASAP. Nasty breaks may require surgery for Pins and Plates and some may just need to be set in plaster or immobilisation devices for a number of weeks.

Joint Dislocations

These should be reduced by a professional and then imaged accordingly. Imaging is important to ensure that there is no impediment to any blood or nerve supply around the joint which can lead to further complications.

Concussion Management

You should consult your local doctor initially and monitor symptoms. From here you can then be reviewed by your sports Physiotherapist to assist with further management.

When should I see my Sports Physio after A Sports Injury?

If you sustain a sports injury that does not require emergency care it is important to consult with your Sports Physiotherapist as soon as possible. This will lead to the best outcome from diagnosis of the injury to appropriate acute care and management of the sports injury by your sports Physiotherapist. They will be able to then devise for you and with you an early intervention and management program speeding up your recovery and return to sport.

The 6 Key Benefits to Starting Your Sports Injury Physiotherapy Program Early

Education & Diagnosis – You will have an understanding of what has happened and what the process to recovery is. This is peace of mind for you knowing that you are doing the right things to facilitate a rapid recovery
Pain Management – You will able to manage your pain better and more efficiently without the potential of causing more harm
Early Intervention- You will be able to begin an active rehab program early giving you a significant advantage to early recovery.
Soft tissue therapy management – Your Physiotherapist will be able to assist with soft tissue work to loosen areas around the injury or areas of compensation which can help with comfort in movement, this can also help with scar tissue mobilisation at the site at the appropriate time.
Early Injury Loading – This can help to improve scar tissue resilience and mobility of the new tissue being laid at the site of injury as well as assist in helping the maturation of the scar along.
A more confident return to sport – The idea is to build you back up better than you were before you were injured making a confident return to the sport or activity you love!

What am I risking by not rehabilitating my Injury ?

If we were to answer this question by looking at the research it is likely that these are the some of the things you may encounter-

A longer healing time
Potential to have ongoing pain
A larger re-occurrence rate, frequency or potential the site or one close by
Increased potential for joint stiffness
Increased muscle weakness
Those Injuries that are ongoing for 3 months or more are termed chronic and as such have there own ill effects on the body and are much more difficult to resolve.

Please remember early intervention for sports injury has the best overall outcome.

What is the Inertia Physiotherapy Approach to Sports Physiotherapy?

Inertia’s approach to managing Sports Injury Physiotherapy is quite simple- Do as much as we can with what we have available to us to ensure you stay active and fit during your recovery. This might include modifying gym programming or tapering run programming, maybe performing movements specific to your sport in an unloaded gym environment. We’ve got you covered from the ice pack back to the weights rack!

What will your Inertia Sports Physio do?

Our Sports Physios will ensure the following

A thorough injury assessment and be able to give you the best education and advice on your injury.

Work with you to create a specific progressive rehab exercise program for your injury
Advise you on training changes and modification to get your injury under control while keeping you training and involved to the best of your ability with your team.
Our sports Physio’s are happy work with your team coaches also, keeping you training and keeping them in the loops as you request or require.

What if you need a scan or need to see a sports GP or Orthopaedic Surgeon?

We work closely with local sports GPs, GPs and have rapid access orthopaedic specialists should you need further assessment or intervention. In a sporting Injury time is critical and we certainly understand this.

Why Choose Inertia Sports Physio’s for Fast Assessment and Recovery of your Sports Injury

Our clinic has an on-site rehab gym with the utmost in rehabilitation equipment from treadmills, bikes, ellipticals and a variety of resistance equipment and general rehabilitation equipment.

Your individualised rehabilitation program is designed around you and your Physios assessments of your sporting requirements and biomechanical deficits to ensure you bounce back from injury stronger faster and more confident than before your injury.

Your concerns are extremely important to us, no matter how big or small your injury is or how complex you feel it may be, our focus is on helping you solve your issue and send you back to the sport you of your choice stronger faster and fitter and more confident than before!