Training for sports is very rigorous. Athletes follow specific programs that involve intense physical demand to an athlete’s body, and may sometimes take its toll. Accidents happen and injuries occur. Although injuries come hand-in-hand with being an athlete, you wouldn’t want to be too badly injured that there is no career for you to come back to.
Just because an athlete is injured, it doesn’t mean that they can’t go back to their previous strength. In this blog, we’ll share some of the benefits of Physiotherapy for Sports Injuries and some exercises that you can do to improve your strength, endurance, and flexibility.
1. Prevent Injuries
All sports are prone to injuries. Athletes test their limits during training for them to improve. But these can be avoided with sports injury physio exercises. Through sports physiotherapy, we can help you assess the extent of your abilities and prepare a customised training program that is well within your strengths and limitations. With proper training, if you do get an injury, the recovery time will be much quicker and you will have fewer instances to undergo surgeries.
2. Get Instant Relief from Pain
Injuries can happen in the field while playing your favourite sport. Physio for shoulder injuries, for example, is one of the most common fixes done on the field. Sports Physiotherapy can give you immediate pain relief by targeting the source of the pain through massages and soft tissue manipulation. This reduces inflammation, shortens the recovery period, and lessens the need for medications and painkillers. Ice has been used in sport for years to manage acute injuries. However prolonged use has been shown to “delay the start of healing and lengthen the recovery time”.
3. Improve and Modify Technique
Sports vary in many different ways and require different complexities in movement. All sports will require good foundational technique to lift heavier, run faster, or jump higher whilst staying injury free. Technique is hard to self-evaluate where even using a mirror or watching a video may not highlight the subtleties that need adjustment. With physiotherapy, many patients have found significant improvements to their performance with even the smallest change.
4. Manage Acute Injuries
The initial stages of an injury can be quite frustrating. Athletes always have a hard time having to wait out games or even training. They always long to be back in the field than wait in the sidelines even after an injury. Early management of an injury allows patients to fast track their recovery during this phase and prevent further injury and longer healing times. This means more time enjoying sports and less time recovering!
5. Prevent Recurring Injuries
Recurring injuries are often due to the lack of return to play testing. This ensures that your body is ready to back onto the field, move heavy weights, or run a marathon. Key measures such as comparing the affected leg’s strength and power to the other side as well as the technique will be the determining factors in return to sport.
How confident you feel returning to play is another area that is often left unexplored. At Leaders Sports and Physiotherapy, all the tests to be conducted will be specific to the individual and their sport.
