Running & Other Sports Injuries

Causes of Sports Injuries:

Sports injuries are commonly caused by overuse, direct impact, or an overloading of force that is greater than the body can structurally withstand. Whether your sports injury is acute or chronic, if pain persists, we recommended coming to see one of our Specialists. Poor fitness, technique and structural abnormalities can also contribute to the development of sports injuries. By identifying biomechanical abnormalities and muscular imbalance treatment can be geared towards recovery and elimination of future problems.

Overuse injuries include:

• Achilles Tendonitis
• Heel Pain (Plantar fasciitis)
• ‘Shin Splints’
• ITB (Ilio-tibial band) syndrome
• Anterior knee pain

Impact injuries include:

• Knee ligament injuries such as Anterior Cruciate or Medial Collateral ligament damage
• Shoulder pain – Rotator cuff sprains/tears in Rugby etc.

Overloading force injuries include:

• Hamstring strain
• Calf tear
• Shoulder tendon strain in throwers or lifters

Treatment

Accurate diagnosis is the key to the successful treatment and rehabilitation of a sporting injury – Your physiotherapist will not just look at the injured area. For example a hamstring strain experienced during running: Alongside assessment of the degree and nature of the strain your physiotherapist will also look at the wider picture, examining the biomechanics of your feet (looking at over pronation/supination etc), your lower back/pelvis (looking for restrictions and malalignments) and the supporting muscles around the thigh such as the hip flexors and gluteals which can impair hamstring function. Your physiotherapist will then guide you through the rehabilitation process from the early acute phase to end stage return to sport:

• RICE regime and electrotherapy
• Early loading exercises and steady state running
• Muscle stretch and retraining in the presence of other muscular imbalance/manual therapy to the spine and pelvis if indicated
• Referral to our Podiatrist in the presence of biomechanical foot issues
• Progressive loading and strength conditioning for the hamstring
• Sport specific drills to progress to the ultimate goal – return to sport.

This is just an example of one of the whole range of sporting injuries that we treat.