Sports Therapy Clinic

Make sure correct headwear/protective equipment is being used based on the correct. First aiders should be competent with concussion management pathways. Although difficult, where possible minimising head trauma will help reduce head injury risk. 

A sports Injury is an injury sustained during a sporting or physical activity. They are usually split into two categories, intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic will have contributing factors such as, training overload, overuse, anatomical differences. Extrinsic will be more focused around trauma, environment, weather.

Although we can’t control external factors. Making sure an athlete is conditioned as well as they can be, will minimise the likelihood of injury occurring. This can be achieved via Strength and Conditioning, training load and Manual Therapies such as sport massage.

Usually, injuries take the typical time to recover. However, the biggest issue with injuries not recovering is the lack of education going into recovery. This delays the process and can lead to repetitive issues. Seeking the care from a professional will usually allow the injury to heal in the correct time frame.

A combination of offloading from activity, seeking professional advice and implementing a tailored rehabilitation plan. If the above are executed effectively, will help achieve the best recovery from a sports injury.

This will be dependent on the injury and how far post injury you are. Typical techniques will consist of, Sports massage, Joint mobilisations, taping, exercise therapy, shockwave and many more.

Acute injuries occur via severe or sudden onset. Usually related to a trauma or external factors, this can include, contact, environmental factors (slippery/uneven surfaces).

Research has previously stated that ACL injuries are typically most common. This being amongst athletes which has a heavy reliance on change of direction. Following this meniscus injuries where the second most prevalent and were also seen in road running activates. (Nicollini et al. 2014). Whereas Swenson et al. (2014) Reported the most injured structures amongst younger athletes where the Medial Collateral Ligament, followed by the Patellar tendon.
Ultimately injury prevalence is dependent on multiple factors such as, Sport, age, gender, injury history etc.

Sometimes, injury is bad luck and timing. This mostly relates to trauma related injuries. Overuse or internal factors, however, can be reduced. For example, a risk of hamstring injury can be reduced by making sure the muscle is strong, can tolerate the typical demands of the sport and making sure function is in peak condition. These will help reduce the risk of getting injured.

Typically, any sports that include throwing or overhead tasks will increase the likelihood of rotator cuff injury. Sports such as, baseball, cricket, javelin would form tasks that increase the likelihood on injury.  

This is heavily dependent on the area in questions. For example, knee injuries, are most prevalent in football and basketball. This is because they include a lot of change of direction and high-speed running. Whereas Concussion based injuries will be seen in sports such as, American football and rugby. This is because there is an increase in likelihood on head trauma.

This will be more focused to chronic overuse issues. In theory if you aren’t fuelling your body correctly to help manage recovery, reduced muscle mass and strength. This could potentially lead to overuse tissue injuries.

Shockwave therapy works with injuries that are more chronic in nature. Typically, if the injury hasn’t been resolved before the 8-week mark, shockwave will become an alternative to traditional treatment. The tool uses sound waves to stimulate tissue healing. Also, with the machine creating inflammation it increases blood flow and reduced metabolic waste in the area, which can sometime lead to stiffness and discomfort. This should be done with an adequate loading programme depeding on the injury.