Sports Injuries, Athletic Healthcare and Osteopathic Medicine

Source: Caroline Stone Osteopathy Clinic, Mount Lawley

Sports Injuries and Athletic Healthcare

Every sport is different, and every sportsman and woman has their own unique physique, with which they aim to use in a particular way for each individual sport. Sports such as golf, swimming, tennis, horse-riding and so on all require the body to be used in different ways, and each place strain in particular parts of the body. Hence some sports have common injuries such as tennis elbow or shin splints in runners, and if your own body does not twist or bend or work in quite the right alignment which is optimum for that sport, then you may experience additional strains and injuries as a result.

Treating sports people requires knowledge of how the body works as an integrated unit, and an awareness of how different sports require different movements throughout the body. Sports people need to be assessed carefully, so that any restrictions or tensions within their mechanical framework can be addressed, allowing them to operate more freely in their chosen sport, and thereby reduce injury occurrence, and also improve injury rehabilitation.

This approach is affective whether you play sports informally in the backyard with the kids, go to the gym once a week, or are a dedicated professional needing to be at optimum fitness and functioning on a daily basis.

Osteopaths are experienced in assessing the whole body, and integrating treatment so that all maintaining factors are considered and addressed wherever possible. Thus osteopathic management of sporting injuries is often more successful than other approaches. Osteopaths can also advise on exercise programmes and can work with other healthcare professionals in an intensive rehabilitation programme as required.

What to do for a sports injury

Joints and Muscles

This is the most well known area for osteopathic care. Whether your problem is repetitive strain injury from work, spinal problems from gardening, sports or lifting, whiplash and other traumatic incidents, sporting problems, or just as a result of the stresses and strains of normal life, osteopathy is often able to help. Many types of chronic and acute problems can be helped, and recovery is often quicker and more long lasting than with other types of care. Osteopaths deal with the very young to the very old and with problems in all parts of the body.

Prevention is definitely better than cure!

Your Osteopath can provide a number of stretching exercises and routines that will specifically assist you with avoiding injury through muscle and joint strain. In addition, depending on your sport and individual needs, your Osteopath can provide advice on lifestyle to assist you in both performance and recovery.

Osteopathic treatment involves manual techniques, including soft tissue stretching, mobilisation and manipulation, which is like a tune up for strained muscles, joints and spine. This creates a positive influence on your circulatory and nervous systems. In turn this can have a flow on effect to the rest of the body by improving elasticity and mobility. These hands on methods are gentle, safe and effective.

Out of Breath?
Whether you are aware that you suffer from a breathing disorder or not, it is important, particularly in sport, that you ensure your diaphragm is performing optimally and the rib cage mechanics are functioning correctly. This is highlighted when the body is under stress to perform and the respiratory rate is elevated. Your Osteopath can assess your structure and assist in maintaining good breathing function.