Sports Injuries pre and post operative rehabilitation

Sports Injuries

This section is recommended for any individual who is taking part in high intensity sport. Your osteopath’s approach is based on principles of movement, principles of real life, and principles of the sport at hand. Osteopaths are trained to understand the biomechanics of human movement and therefore our therapy targets the specific areas of need that will assist in the most authentic, real-life, and quickest recovery of players back to their sport. 

From tennis elbow to Achilles tendon damage, your osteopath can diagnose, treat and rehabilitate a wide array of common sports injuries. Remember- osteopathy isn't just for backs- our therapists are trained to a high standard for all musculo-skeletal complaints. Treatment is tailored to every individual to ensure that the fastest resolution to your problem is met. 

There are many types of sporting injuries that can be treated by your osteopath. 

These include:

Shoulder injuries- such as rotator cuff tears and tendonitis- common in swimmers

Tennis elbow- inflammation of the extensor muscle tendons in the forearm

Golfers elbow- inflammation of the flexor muscle tendons in the forearm

Repetitive strain injury (RSI)- inflamed tendons from overuse

Strained wrist- commonly from a fall on an outstretched hand

Spinal pain- often from lifting or landing injuries

Rotated Pelvis (Sacro-iliac joint dysfunction)- common in torsional sports such as golf or racquet sports

Hip pain- from falls, contact injuries or excessive range of movement

Knee pain- ligament injuries are common especially in contact sports, but also degenerative pain in weight-bearing sports like running

Ankle joint problems- usually instability injuries causing ligaments to be strained or torn

Achilles Tendonitis and heel pain

Impact injuries- frequently from contact sports and martial arts.

Treatment: In terms of treatment- we usually combine muscular stretches and massage, medical acupuncture, joint mobilisation and manipulation techniques to tailor a specific regime to your needs, depending on the type of injury. 

Your osteopath also may use electro-therapy such as ultra-sound to speed up your recovery. 

In most cases we suggest exercises to be carried out between appointments and may work with other therapies to ensure the fastest recovery (e.g. sports massage, physiotherapy, podiatry and acupuncture). 

Sports nutrition is fast becoming another area where we are happy to provide advice. 

Sports injuries their prevention and rehabilitation

Your osteopath can work with the trainers and coaches to design bespoke rehabilitation programmes based on the science of movement, the anatomy of the human body, and the key areas that need to be kept healthy to prevent injury. 

When rehabilitation has been successfully completed, an athlete can feel strong enough to return to sport and the coaches can drive them to ultimate performance. 

Programmes will focus on strength & conditioning, dynamic flexibility, and neuromuscular stability in the ranges of joint movement required for your sport. Real rehabilitation looks a lot like your regular exercise. 

No magic tricks, quick fixes, or wishful thinking. Just progressive movement and recovery. 

It’s about decreasing fear, anxiety, and sensitivity to pain, whilst building strength, tolerance to load, and confidence in your body. Your osteopath will use graded exercise progressions, to ensure that each stage of your rehabilitation is optimal for the current stage of injury, helping you return to sport more quickly and prevent re-injury.

Injuries preventing you from playing and participating in the sports you love can be incredibly frustrating. Your osteopath can offer treatment and rehabilitation of sports injuries for all athletes so if you’d like to start your journey to recovery from injury and return to your sport, simply book an appointment. Your osteopath is here to help.

PREOPERATIVE AND POSTOPERATIVE REHABILITATION (Prehab and Rehab)

Having an operation is not an ideal situation and we would all love to avoid this last resort. However, due to injuries or wear and tear in the body, an operation can become a much needed intervention. The question is, how much will you be able to do post operation? 

This is where your osteopath can design you post-operative rehabilitation programme to help you reach your goal by:

-  Creating aims and goals with the patient, 

-  Analysing what is realistic and achievable using our professional understanding, 

-  Liaising with the orthopaedic consultant where appropriate to formulate a concrete plan.

Once these are complete your osteopath will use an individualised, functional approach using a variety of hands-on techniques, corrective exercises based on your biomechanics, and by creating an empowering atmosphere guiding you through each step of the process.

Prehab

In the lead up to undergoing surgery, it is important to make sure your body is in the optimal state for recovery. There will often be a relative period of inactivity. 

It is therefore important to build muscular strength around the area before undergoing surgery, to provide the best possible outcomes afterwards. 

This preoperative programme will involve undergoing movement assessment and graded exercise prescription, to improve neuromuscular control and dynamic flexibility, with the intention of increasing tissue resilience and improving joint mechanics. 

It may also simply involve going through some basic, low resistance movements such as supported squats, or hip movements. 

This will depend entirely on your specific injury, the procedure you are awaiting to undergo, and current fitness levels.

Rehab

Your osteopath will take a detailed case history to understand clearly the nature of your injury and what procedures you have been through. This involves looking at your reports and other investigations you may have had. Your osteopath may need communicate with your consultant.

Then a clear, thorough assessment which taking into account how your body moves from a general perspective will be carried out. A more detailed specific analysis to determine the areas that need attention will also be required.

After this your osteopath will explain clearly what has been found and how best to create a programme that will enable you to reach your aim or goals, returning you to your normal activities. 

This provides a realistic and achievable outlook for your recovery. 

The human body will not function in synchrony unless we look at the body as a whole. This concept is one of the principles of osteopathy. 

The science comes in when trying to understand how to create easy progressive steps towards your goals. 

Your osteopaths experience in rehabilitation, functional movement assessment, and principles of osteopathy allows a bespoke rehab programme, that takes into account the nature of your injury, the anatomy, the biomechanics, and other factors that may prevent healing, to be created. 

This could include your nutrition, sleep, or psychological well-being.