SPORTS INJURIES
Acute Injuries such as a Shoulder Dislocation or an Ankle Sprain come on suddenly, usually following some incident or trauma.
Overuse Injuries on the other hand tend to come on slowly either after one or several sporting events. One of the main causes of this in sports is overuse or repetitive strain (RSI). This can be a tendon tracking through its sheath or rubbing against a bone or a bursa.
Common Overuse Injuries can include:
- Tennis Elbow (Lateral Epicondylitis)
- Golfers Elbow (Medial Epicondylitis)
- Tendinitis e.g. rotator cuff or achilles.
- Shin Splints (Tibialis anterior tendinitis)
- Stress Fractures
- Bursitis
Experience the Benefits of Chiropractic Care Today
Why and how do overuse injuries occur?
All sports place huge physical demands and stresses on the body. Under normal circumstances, the body has a large capacity to be able to adapt to such stress – for example, bone density increases the more you partake in weight bearing activity. However in some situations the demand on the body far outweighs its adaptation capabilities and the involved tissue (often muscle, tendon or bone) which becomes subject to repeated micro-trauma eventually fails. Overuse injuries are usually the result of a combination of overtraining, lack of necessary rest, poor training techniques and neuromusculoskeletal inadequacies (such as restricted/stiff joints, tight muscles, weak muscles and a nervous system which is not functioning as it should.
How can Chiropractic help?
If you have an overuse injury, believe you are developing one, or believe you are at risk of developing one, consult a Chiropractor for a full examination today. Our Chiropractors are not only highly experienced in the diagnosis and treatment of a large range of overuse injuries, we are also able to ascertain what caused your injury to develop in the first place. From this, we are able to devise a treatment plan which will not only reduce your current symptoms but which will put measures in place to prevent another from occurring.
Why it is important that overuse injuries require chiropractic assessment
Overuse injuries usually start off as mild niggles, many of which are ignored. Over time, if the aggravating activity (often the sport) is continued, the injury progressively deteriorates until the sportsperson can no longer continue. By this point, the body has already tried over and over again to adapt and heal the damage. There is usually much scar tissue in the area and once this scar tissue has developed, the damaged tissue cannot regain its original properties on its own. Scar tissue can also adhere to and compress nearby structures such as nerves. This can put you at risk of ongoing problems. Furthermore, in an attempt to avoid even more damage to the involved tissue, additional joints and structures become damaged too as they attempt to compensate for the initial overuse injury. If this injury is seen to early, the tissue has every chance of returning to its pre-injured state, allowing you a quick return to your sport without further problems.
TREATMENT
Manipulation/adjustments to any restricted joints in your spine or extremity to improve joint function and nerve impulse transport. When the joints function well and they receive their correct nerve supply, the tissues surrounding the joints such as muscles function well too. Furthermore, adjusting provides a powerful neurological input to the damaged structure, further improving your symptoms by stimulating your body’s own natural healing processes.
Active Release techniques to relax and lengthen tight/shortened muscles.
Kinesio Taping to encourage correct/safe joint movements or better ‘form’.
Support taping to stabilise hypermobile areas while we strengthen the muscles surrounding them.
Dry needling/Acupuncture to inhibit the pathological (harm causing) reflexes which often perpetuate the problem.
Rehabilitation program tailored specifically for you after an initial one-to-one assessment to identify, then strengthen weakened muscles, correct muscle imbalances and faulty movement patterns. Typically this will include a Home Exercise regime.
Advice on technique changes (using video analysis if necessary), training regimes, diet and supplements .
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