Sports injuries

OSTEOPATHY & SPORTS INJURIES

Osteopathy is both preventative and reactive. Meaning, professional athletes and sports men and women seek osteopathic treatment to help prevent injury as well as using osteopathy to aid in their rehabilitation from injury.

This is why professional sports clubs employ team osteopaths as they help their athletes stay fit. Treatments also help improve performance by loosening the muscles before a workout or game. Then, its relax them and help them cool down at the end of a session.

Sports osteopathy can have positive effects on joint pain and injury. Indeed, the treatment helps the body to recover more quickly and prevent further injury by strengthening the body and encouraging good posture. It also helps identify wider problems in the body that can contribute to the pain.

Common sport injuries

The body feels the repercussions from Sports at any level, you don’t have to be an elite athlete to need Sports Osteopathy. Athletes and individuals who play sports regularly are more prone to develop sports injuries. Some of the common sports injuries are :

• tennis elbow, golf elbow
• ankle injury (sprain)
• muscle strain
• fractures
• herniated disc
• knee injuries
• tendonitis (Achille)
• Dislocation
• tarsal tunnel syndrome
• Hip injury
• Foot injuries
• Ligament injury
• Back pain

These injuries occur from various sports such as golf, football, basketball, athletics, and tennis.

Also, sports injuries can often be caused by :

• overuse and over training, such as runner’s knee or tennis elbow where the player pushes their body to the limit.
• under training or poor training practices.
• not stretching and having a good warm up. This can also lead to many injuries as the body is not prepared for the exercise.
• incorrect equipment. Ill-fitting footwear can cause hip, knee and foot injuries (e.g. Achilles injuries).

Reduced joint flexibility will affect the degree of performance and may result in injury if the player is unaware that they cannot perform to the same level as they used to.

Young people are especially vulnerable in sport as their growing bodies are often expected to perform to high standards and are putting exceptional physical demands on themselves.

How Osteopathy can Help?

When it comes to injuries, osteopathy has a unique approach. Osteopaths look beyond the injured area, to find out why the injury has occurred, not just treating the symptoms. An osteopath can help improve performance as well as treat the injuries being suffered.

By using their knowledge of diagnosis and highly developed palpatory skills they can help restore structural balance, improve joint mobility, and reduce adhesions and soft tissue restrictions so that ease of movement is restored and performance enhanced.

The aim of osteopathic treatment is to accelerate your injury healing time, relieve pain and identify any other problem areas within your body that may be contributing to your injury.

Your osteopath will devise treatment plans to reduce pain, aide recovery time and to minimise the chance of the injury reoccurring.

If required your osteopath may send you for x-rays or refer you to your GP or a Sports Physician for further examination.