Introduction
Unfortunately, training can result in injuries. However, the path back to training is often hindered if there is not a good relationship or sufficient communication between vital professionals.
If you encounter an injury (or niggle) your Sports Therapist’s job will be to help you recover from that. In order to do this, they would require the full picture, a clear subjective history of the injury in question. Some things to be expects are;
How did the injury occur?
How long ago did the injury occur?
Have you had an injury like this or a significant injury in the past?
What makes it better?
What makes it worse?
Do you experience pain at night?
Is there a pattern to your symptoms?
Are you well in yourself otherwise?
Any family history or medical conditions that as a Sports Therapist I should know about?
What do you do for work? And what are your hobbies?
The more we know, the better we will be able to assess the problem and find a solution.
This works both ways as it’s equally important for the coach to know what the Sports Therapist has assessed.
What happens if the Coach & the Sports Therapist do not communicate?
If communication fails between the Sports Therapist and your Trainer, chances are you then become the ‘messenger’. This allows for a huge can of worms to be opened as things can get lost in translation, with either party then having the full picture. As a result of this we run the risk of conflicting decisions arising and this will only hinder you as the individual. Now that’s not to say one of them will make a mistake, but simply because they are assessing the situation with limited information.
Often clients can concurrently train and manage an injury, but in the case of a pause to training, there will be a return which navigates through some crucial phases:
Injury fixing- this may entail rest, ice, recover and healing
Address the cause- this may be identifying why the injury arose in the first place. Was it due to imbalances, mechanics etc.
Stability- are you able to control the movement yourself without assistance?
Ensure correct complex function and loading- using complex movements and multiple muscle groups to load the body.
A plyometric phase- exercises with movement and control are deemed the end stages of rehab. E.g.: can you descend into squat and then explosively broad jump forward?
A gradual return to sport.
If you keep on getting injured or have a recurring niggle, then you are likely to have missed one or more of the above steps. The middle aspect is individual specific and while some isolated exercises can help with generic injuries, not anyone’s pain is the same. Rehabilitation and exercise prescription should be client specific.
Benefits
In depth programming specific to the individual and their needs
Appropriate exercise prescription both from a physical activity & rehabilitation aspect
End stage rehabilitation conducted by a coach guided by the Sports Therapist
Task specific training to attempt to prevent repeated injury
Complementing services to benefit mutual clients
References
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