Sports injuries are often caused while preparation or during a sports event due to by overuse, direct impact, or the application of force that is greater than the body part can structurally withstand. Certain other conditions which can lead to sports injuries are for example overtraining, lack of conditioning, and inappropriate technique of performing a certain exercise. Neglect towards warm up prior to exercising or playing any physical sports also increases the risk of such injuries. Further in certain sports like football or soccer, basketball, cricket, volleyball, skiing, polo and tennis cases of injury are far higher. These injuries initially are acute and if not treated properly in time can result or due to repetitive stress associated with sports activities can become chronic in nature; and can permanently affect bones, joints, soft tissues (ligaments, muscles and tendons) or other organs like the heart, lungs and eyes.
Some of the more common sports injuries which require the attention of a physical therapist include:
- Sprains: Overstretching or tearing the ligaments results in a sprain
- Strains: occurs when the load placed on the muscle is too great for its tensile strength to handle
- Knee injuries can result from either overuse or an acute injury from sudden impact or collision. Fractures, torn meniscus, knee bursitis, Patellar tendinitis are common knee injuries in sports.
- Swollen muscles can be due to poor body mechanics, chronic muscle strains or an acute impact
- Achilles tendon rupture usually affects the back of your lower leg often linked to repetitive stress on the tendon.
- Fractures are commonly related to repetitive stress, acute sports-related trauma and trauma outside of athletics.
- Dislocations may be caused by sudden jolts to one of the joints affecting mainly the fingers, toes, ankles, wrist, elbow, or shoulders when sports person either falls or twists the body at an accelerated pace.
- Rotator cuff injury are mostly seen in sports persons competing in overhead sports such as baseball, football, tennis, basketball, golf, and swimming
- Tennis elbow is caused by overusing your forearm due to a repetitive or strenuous activity or due to knocking or banging of the elbow.
The essential role of a physical therapist in sports is to provide treatment and rehabilitation of injuries. Physical therapy helps sports people regain strength and movement in parts of the body after an injury. This line of treatment can also prevent permanent damage and recurring problems through performance support and recovery interventions. A strong sports person–physiotherapist relationship is essential for effective treatment and shaping of the former’ expectations of injury rehabilitation.
The main goals of physiotherapy and rehabilitation in sports injury cases include:
- Establishing the root cause of pain through proper understanding and analysis of the root cause
- Planning a personalised exercise regime to help the sports person return to the pre-injury condition
- Help to improve on mobility restrictions
- Preventive injury methods and diagnosis for sports person through screening process and exercise
- Help the sports person achieve peak performance
- Monitoring regularly
Physical therapists are skilled in designing schedules and adequately implementing them along with evaluation and discipline. The regimen when followed judiciously provides a definite recovery of the sports person. By prescribing different personalised exercises, physical therapists also help athletes maintain the regular physical fitness levels of the sports person during the healing process. Post recovery, sports persons can apply all that they learned during their physiotherapy sessions to optimize their training, improve their skills, and prevent injury.
- Following the routine physical therapy practices aids in better performance of the athletes and makes them physically and mentally sharp by inducing positive changes.
- Not only during injuries, regular physical therapy also plays a significant role in the enhancement of an athlete’s performance through routine exercises.
- Physical therapy relaxes the muscle tension and increases adequate oxygen supply in the tissues and enables proper control and coordination along with adequate cell to cell communication.
- Flexibility and speed of the sports person, is greatly amplified.
As someone who enjoys playing active sports, it can be extremely frustrating to sit out due to an injury. Sports injuries are a delicate problem because left ignored or mistreated, they can worsen. At VARDĀN, our functional manual therapists work closely with sportspersons, identifying the exact nature of the injury and developing a personalized treatment plan, which includes body mechanics training, posture correction, and exercises apart from FMT™️. All this, to guide you towards not just getting back in your game but also to ensure that you stay on top of it.
To know more about (FMT™️) call us at : +91 011 43580720-22, or write to us on: vardan@timesgroup.com