Sports injuries are common especially for hard-core athletes. However, it should be prevented as much as possible because it can greatly affect the life and career of an athlete.
Injuries may happen during different physical activities – competitions, training exercises, fitness programs, etc. Some of the causes of injuries are poor training techniques and improper warm-ups.
To fully recover from an injury caused by any physical activity, physical rehabilitation is needed. The process will help the victim regain strength and enable him or her to move the affected parts of their bodies. Furthermore, therapy sessions will help them manage the pain, prevent permanent damage and the case from getting worse.
Physical therapists are specially trained to assist patients in recovering from their injuries. Sessions usually include exercises, stretches and other techniques that are coupled with equipment to properly address the problem.
Common Sports Injuries
Since there are many different athletes, they are also exposed to varying sport’s risks. The most common types of injury that they may suffer from are sprains, knee injuries, shin splints, fractures and strains.
Whatever type of injury they may have, it should always be properly addressed to keep the athlete safe. It would be helpful to study the biomechanics of an athlete undergoing therapy – especially for golfers, baseball and tennis players.
Although it can be applied to any athlete, the sports mentioned above have biomechanical concepts which constantly put the same body parts through the same stress. Athletes who play tennis or baseball are most likely to endure the same injuries such as inflammation or pain on the outside of the upper arm.
To avoid enduring such injuries, they need to be precise when playing to avoid causing an excessive load of force on the same anatomical structure.
Sports Injuries and Treatments
If there are two things that a physical therapist should know before treating a patient, it would be the exact affected area and the extent of the injury. Before starting a rehabilitation program, it is important for a therapist to carefully evaluate the situation. Injuries follow a normal healing process, they take time to heal – acute phase, subacute phase and chronic phase.
The acute phase includes rest, ice, compression and elevation. The subacute phase is a control motion phase wherein the patient can do a range of motion exercises with ample assistance. The last phase is when an injured athlete does pre-injury work-out routines. He or she is finally on his or her way to full recovery!