 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
|
|||||||
 |
|
|
||||||||
 |
|
|||||||||
 |
 |
|
||||||||
|
||||||||||
 |
|
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
 |
|
|||||||||
|
OSTEOPATHIC SPORTS MEDICINE When consulting an osteopath with chronic or acute problems, you are evaluated and treated with a view to prevention of further injury, combined with prescription of corrective exercise. The osteopath is sympathetic and motivated towards the patients need to commence a speedy recovery of the body and return to their sporting endeavours. Osteopathy focuses on the treatment of compromised body mechanics, function and posture. A detailed knowledge and understanding of the structure and function of the human musculoskeletal system enables the osteopath to identify problems which have occurred because of injury or mechanical stress, and treat the underlying causes. This will enable the body to heal itself, thus improving performance and reducing the possibility of further injuries. Osteopathic evaluation prior to your sport/activity will enable us to identify potential problems before they arise. We can then recommend osteopathic treatment, preventative exercises and treatment. A monthly visit to an Osteopath can keep your body functioning at an optimal level, and can help prevent small discomforts from turning into severe injuries.
Have you got a recurring injury? Common Sports & Their Injuries:
Cricket injuries
Cycling Cyling with knees almost at right angles to the bike will put abnormal stress on the structures of the knee. This is caused by pointing your feet outward and consequently pulling the knee with it. Directing your feet inward will also lead to biomechanical problems. Ensure your feet are in a comfortable, neutral position when you ride. Overloading the muscles of your leg by pushing at a high resistance for a long distance and cycling with the saddle height too low will cause the knee to remain flexed during your bike ride and consequently damage the structures of the knee. Traumatic injuries such as head injuries, contusions (bruising of deep muscles) and fractures are more common in cycling than other sports but these can be avoided by paying attention to basic safety rules. Other injuries include back pain and pressure injuries giving numbness, tingling, or pain in your arm, hand, wrist, or little finger. Most overuse injuries experienced by cyclists stem from poor biomechanical function and lack of specific preparation. With proper osteopathic evaluation you will be set for your next bike ride or Cape Argus Cycle Tour.
Dance injuries Osteopathy, with its fine manual diagnosis, enables early recognition of the smallest loss of mobility in the body and assess its influence on overall functioning. Osteopathic treatment helps to reinstate the flow of movement and thus improve the body’s integrity. All dance styles are considered: Musical Theatre, Classical Ballet, African, Tap, South Asian, Jazz, Contemporary and Irish. Guy is a Registered member of Dance UK. www.danceuk.org Testimonial – Dr Stacey Prickett
DIY can be a strenuous, and can exercise muscles that have not been used for a long time. This can lead to injuries such as Elbow strain(extensor teninopathy) from use of screw driver, weeding and digging. DIY injuries can also result from falling off ladders, slipping, tripping, causing pulled muscles and other injuries. DIY can also cause excessive levels of stress. Osteopathic treatment can help you through the physical demands of DIY. Advice on good posture, especially whilst using equipment and tools, and other sensible preventative measures would be prescribed.
Football Injuries These injuries are caused by the stop-start nature of the game, the hastily applied multi-directional high loads imposed on the body and the unpredictability of what other players may do. This means that footballers are predictably prone to all sorts of musculoskeletal injuries. Footballers who lack flexibility have an increased incidence of injury. Previously injured players are at a higher risk to repeat the injury. The majority of injuries in football occur in the lower body, mostly to the knees and ankles. However, repeated or prolonged use (overuse) injuries are common problems, especially towards the end of a long and gruelling season. These injuries are the result of constant overloading of the body resulting in the inability of the relevant structure being able to perform its normal biomechanical duties. Youth and adolescent footballers are most at risk for overuse injuries during times of rapid growth. Osgood-Schlatter’s disease is an adolescent overuse injury where the thigh muscle tendon attaches to the shin bone below the knee. This can become inflamed by repetitive running or jumping. An injury such as this should be treated osteopathically as soon as possible because it could lead to a complete separation of the tendon from the bone, which would then require surgery. Sever’s disease is another common area of pain in the young football player (age 7 and older). It is inflammation of the growth plate of the heel bone (calcaneous). Other areas of inflammation of the growth plate can occur at the pelvic rim, the thigh muscle attachment to the hip, the hamstrings, and the groin muscles attachment to the pelvis. Common adult football players overuse injuries include the damage to the Achilles tendon, the knee and the shin (shin splints, inside of lower leg). If left untreated these injuries could lead to tendon rupture.
Golf injuries A golf swing involves an exaggerated trunk rotation and requires you to move both shoulders through a wide range of motion at high speed. It is no wonder if this motion is done incorrectly can cause injury to many parts of the body especially their backs, elbows, shoulders and wrists. Osteopathy can help improve golf biomechanics and posture thus improving a golfer’s handicap. Sports osteopathic management will advise you on appropriate rehabilitation which will allow you a quicker return to the game you love.
Back injuries Muscle, ligament and joint strains of the back are the most common golf injuries. Constant bending over will cause extreme stress on the muscles and joints of the lower back. The use of longer golf clubs can allow your body to remain closer to an upright position and help relieve stress on your back.
Elbow injuries
Wrist injuries
Gym / Weight Training Injuries "Each time I go to the gym I am always amazed how badly people perform their exercises. I will usually observe at least 5-10 people attempting to perform an exercise with very bad technique and trying to do too much. Unfortunately in most cases there are never enough qualified instructors to oversee the training"
Many injuries are caused by not lowering a weight in a controlled and correct manner.
Typical injuries include:
Emphasize the maintenance of a lordosis or a neutral back during lifting or straining. As soon as the trunk and back are thrown in to help lift, then STOP, as this means that the muscles being trained are fatiguing, and other muscles are being used to help out, frequently flexing the spine.
Gymnastics Injuries to recreational gymnasts are less common than elite gymnasts. High level competitive gymnasts are more at risk because of their high number of training hours and complexity of skills they perform. Males are more likely to sustain an upper body injury whereas females are more prone to lower body injuries. The ankle and foot are the most common sites of injury, such as ankle strains from over-rotating on landings from dismounts on uneven bars, beam, floor-work, vault, rings, pommel-horse or parallel bars. Injuries also occur to the lower back from a tendency to whip back into extended positions, such as when doing back-flips. Wrist and hand injuries can be sustained during vault and floor work, such as a stress fracture of the radius, perhaps due to twisting during any weight-bearing turn (such as handstand half twist etc). Osteopathic management will afford the gymnast more awareness of their body, allowing him/her to stop before overtraining, and to work within their individual boundries. Osteopathy will also enable them to move with a more relaxed body rhythm, more flexibility and body balance, therefore reducing the incidence of injury as their bodies develop and grow from youth to adult.
Martial arts injuries
Typical martial arts injuries are:
Additionally you can speed recovery by Osteopathic treatment and rehabilitation when injury occurs. All Martial Arts styles are considered and treated including: Aikido, Capoeira, Jeet Kune Do, Ju Jitsu, Judo, Karate, Kendo, Kickboxing, Kung Fu, Muay Thai, Tae Kwon Do, Wing Chun
Rugby injuries Frequent physical contact and collision cause upper limb (shoulder, elbow, wrist and hand), and head to be most frequently injured. For example: Shoulder dislocation can be caused by diving with the arms outstretched to touch down, propping and hooking in the scrum, and the fall backwards tackle with the tackle arm turned out and outstretched up by the head (externally rotated and abducted). Increased emphasis on fitness training and a faster match tempo has lead to a rise in the number of muscle and tendon injuries. Reduced stride length when sprinting along the wing, particularly at the end of the match may be related to hamstring shortness due to sitting at a desk or in a vehicle during your working day. Injury may be avoided with the appropriate stretching regime. An opportunity to stretch and avoid injury will usually arise during a penalty kick. Help yourself to avoid injury, instead of slumping in the changing room after a hard game sit with lumbar spine in extension. This will help avoid lower back pain disc problems.
Running injuries Often there is dysfunction in the muscles and joints of the back, hips, knees, ankles and feet because they deal with huge forces whist running. Poor ability of some joints to rotate will mean compensating elsewhere. Usually on a short run this may not cause a problem, however when attempting longer distances such as a marathon, breakdown will occur at the weakest point. Most running injuries occur from overtraining (too much too soon) combined with faulty leg biomechanics. Achilles strains (tendinopathy) caused by a sudden increase in speed or distance may be too much for the tendon. Uphill running, bend running, sprint drills, camber running (running along a slanted road) and running on rough ground will overload the Achilles and cause other injuries. Tight shoulders and high elbow position can give shoulder pain. Achilles bursitis (inflammation of the protective fluid-filled sac, a bursa) can be caused by tight fitting shoes. Wind mill style running can give medial knee ligament strain. Downhill running can cause patella femoral syndrome. Guy ran his first marathon in Paris in 1986 and since then has had a keen interest in running and running related injuries.
Tennis injuries The most common injuries associated with tennis are shoulder injuries (rotator cuff), tennis elbow (extensor tendinopathy), back pain, knee pain, calf /tendon injuries and ankle strains.
Rotator cuff injuries (shoulder)
Tennis elbow (extensor tendinopathy/lateral epicondylitis)
Back pain
Knee pain (Patella tendinopathy/patella-femoral syndrome)
Calf and Achilles tendon injuries
Ankle sprains
Walking injuries Walking may result in Achilles pain from hill walking and climbing, especially when using the forefoot and allowing the heel to drop too low increasing the forces on the Achilles. Calf strains and ankle sprains can occur from fell walking (edging the outside of the boot for a long time when walking along slopes). Thigh and knee strains commonly occur from steep downhill walks because it increases physical demands on the thigh muscles very strongly. Also upper, middle and lower back strains, hip pains, shin splints and plantar fasciitis (inflammation of the supporting tissue under the foot) is common.
Workplace/Office These types of postures will place strain and cause restriction to areas of the spine. Muscle imbalance will also occur throughout your body. A common example is shortening of the hamstrings. Symptoms such as back, neck, shoulder, arm, wrist and hand aches and pains, will only arise because your body can no longer adapt to the positions it has been in. Your symptoms can also be triggered by events such as physical exertion, emotional stress or illness. Sometimes a minor strain may give more pain and take longer to heal than expected. This may be because your body has reached the limits of its ability to cope with the combined effects of poor work posture and past injuries. Any new demand is ‘the final straw’. Osteopathic treatment and ergonomic appraisal of your work station will enable the body to heal itself, thus enhancing work performance and minimising the likelihood of recurrence.
For the employer For years a number of large companies in the UK have retained Osteopaths as part of their permanent company health teams. Many smaller companies have also benefited from liaison with their local Osteopaths. Having an osteopath involved in your staff care programmes can lead to a fitter workforce and improved morale, increasing productivity and less time off through ill-health. Speedy intervention for an acute patient can prevent the condition becoming chronic. |
|
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
© 2007 Fusion Technologies |
|
|||||||||