Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation - What you need to know

Injuries are nearly always common in sporting activities and professional athletes but also could occur to anyone. Sports injury massage and rehabilitation techniques can be used to help athletes recover fast from any injury and empower them to go back to training sooner rather than later. It can also be very beneficial for any individual wanting to strengthen core areas, improve posture, flexibility and prevent injuries

What are Sports Injuries?

Any injury that involves the musculoskeletal system during a sporting event can be termed a sports injury. The musculoskeletal system comprises of the muscles, tissues, bones, ligaments and tendons. People heal very differently and your healing process is so subjective to the type of injury that you have incurred, which is precisely why we discourage people to “google” their symptoms or for advice on the internet. The way you have injured “your” body is going to be very different to the way someone else has, and their rehabilitation program may not be suited to your individual requirements, so you could potentially set yourself back even further by following generic advice.

An injury from a sporting activity can take place at any time; however, on average, most injuries heal pretty quickly though, there are a few exceptions that may take quite a while to heal, for example ligament and tendon injuries. This is precisely where our injury rehabilitation techniques come to fold.

Why Rehabilitation?

Rehabilitation has to do with the process by which the body regains full function following an injury. It also involves restoring strength, flexibility, endurance, power, and stability.

The primary purpose of injury rehabilitation is to help damaged tissues to recover in a supervised and controlled manner.

The healing, rejuvenation, and rehabilitation process from an injury goes through different stages. An essential component of the rehabilitation process is sports massage carried out under the supervision of a rehabilitation specialist. The second component is establishing what your own personal rehabilitation requirements are based on your individual movement pattern. This is ascertained when we assess you and this helps us to identify exactly what rehabilitation program is best suited to your individual needs.

Let’s take a look at some of the common injuries sport injuries.

Most Common Injuries in Sports

• Ankle Sprain – common among players involved in basketball, volleyball, football, etc
• Shin splints – this injury is prominent with athletes involved in contact sports or running or any sport that involves “pounding” of the feet on a hard surface, it refers to pain on the shinbone due to inflammation of the muscles
• Tearing of the ligaments at the knee joint and the meniscus that lies between the knee joint
• Dislocation of the shoulder joint
• Lower back strains or spasms

The common symptoms associated with these injuries listed above include:

• Bruising at the site of the injury
• Swelling
• Loss of motion and ability to move a joint
• Cramping
• Any movement that causes sharp pangs of pain
• Muscle weakness and spasms
• Inability to rest your weight on the joint

Non-sporting individuals are prone to injuries just as athletes. In fact people that sit at a desk all day and then hit the gym during peak hour or any other time of the day are more prone to injury as a result of instability in their movement patterns.

The misconception is that deep tissue massage is for sports people but there are so many benefits to having regular massage therapy. To read about all the benefits click here

How Can I avoid injuries in the future?

It is highly crucial for you to avoid getting injured in the first instance, and generally injuries can be prevented if the body is stable. However, whilst we do all we can to stabilise our bodies, for those that play contact sports or enjoy ski-ing or snow-boarding, sometimes injuries can’t be prevented. However, as therapists we are here to help you prevent as many injuries as you can to enable you to continue to do the things you love doing, like gardening, or to continue to play the sports you enjoy!

We encourage you to NOT ignore the “smoke alarms” that your body sends you in the way of “pain signals” and to deal with any potential injuries that you have and receive the correct treatment. If injuries are ignored the recovery time could increase, as is the probability of the injury re-occurring

At Intulo Health we use a variety of techniques such as deep tissue massage, various other massage techniques, mobilisation, cupping, chiropractic and rehabilitation. Our experienced therapists Amanda, Paolo and Rachel are always on hand to give advice with regards to what treatment is best suited to you and what rehabilitation is required.

If you want to know more about sports massage and rehabilitation, contact us for an informal chat. We are based in Ferndown and Bournemouth and are always happy to receive new patients.

Have a look at what our clients say about us. Click here