SPORTS INJURIES
WHAT ARE SPORTS INJURIES?
If you use the reversing principle, then they are injuries that occur from playing sports. In most industrialized countries, playing sports is a popular pastime and therefore there is a large market for treating athletic injuries. In many countries, sports is a multi-billion dollar industry. Injured athletes usually get some treatment on the field, and afterwards they can follow up with the team doctor and any specialists if necessary. Sports injury treatment, as a practice area, has both depth and breadth, and many different healthcare providers are needed for specific treatments and procedures such as:
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Sports Medicine
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Orthopedic Surgeons
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Neurologists
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Chiropractors
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Physiotherapists
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Nutritionists
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Athletic Trainers
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Each of them are needed and have special skills and training for different injuries and conditions.
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Again, what is sports medicine or sports injuries? They are simply the same injuries that members of the general public might suffer from, but in the athletic sense. Take for example the condition known as tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis). This is a very common condition in the general public, but the term was established by tennis players with lateral elbow pain. What about your grandma who mops the floor and has lateral epicondylitis? She too has tennis elbow, but she does not play tennis! Most people use a mouse at work when sitting in front of a computer, and many people develop tennis elbow from simply using the mouse while going about their day-to-day desk activities. So sports injuries are nothing more than injuries that occur in athletes, but in many cases they tend to be conditions that anyone can suffer from. With that said, doctors and healthcare professionals that treat athletes need to have some background about sports and how sports injuries occur (sports biomechanics and kinesiology). They also need to know how to prevent further re-injury and be able to address any complications that may arise. At the Singapore Bone and Joint Clinic, we are trained and have a wealth of experience in treating the sports injuries of both professional athletes and the general public.
WHY DO INJURIES OCCUR IN THE FIRST PLACE?
If you are an athlete with an injury, then this is the clinic for you. Professional and amateur athletes alike suffer from many of the same types of injuries and the professionals at our clinic will help you recover and educate you on how to prevent future occurrences. These injuries happen for a variety of reasons. The following are the most common reasons why people get injured during sports or physical activities:
Personal Factors
1) Not warming up enough (e.g. starts the early degeneration of joints)
2) Not being flexible enough (e.g. hamstring tears because your hamstring is too short)
3) Improper technique in your sport (e.g. incorrect punching mechanics during boxing workouts)
4) Overuse injuries (e.g. throwing too many baseball pitches)
5) Improper (training) equipment (e.g. Worn out running shoes or incorrect golf club length)
6) Lack of regular training (deconditioned) (e.g. trying to run a marathon without proper training)
7) Previous injuries (e.g. previous ankle sprains predispose you to a re-sprain of the same ankle)
8) Overtraining (e.g. too much training and not enough rest to repair and rebuild)
9) Genetics (e.g. being born with one leg slightly shorter than the other, which can affect your back, spine, pelvis, knee, and hip function)
10) Age (e.g. older athletes tend to get injured more often and more easily, and the recovery process takes longer. Also usually due to a combination of all of the above factors)
External Factors
1) The playing surface (e.g. ankle sprains from large holes and divots in the football field)
2) Contact with other players (e.g. most contact sports such as football or basketball)
3) The weather (e.g. more prone to slips and falls when running on wet surfaces)
4) Playing indoors versus outdoors (e.g. the lighting and visibility of the playing area)
5) Playing during the day or night (e.g. being blinded by the sun during the day and lack of visibility at night)
6) Playing temperature (e.g. colder temperatures make it harder to stay warm, and warmer temperatures tend to dehydrate athletes faster)
6) Equipment is not at the right specifications (e.g. incorrect ball size or pressure)
7) Failure to follow safety rules and protocol (e.g. not using protective equipment)
WE WILL HELP YOU GET BACK TO THE SPORT THAT YOU LOVE
Our clinic treats all non-surgical sports injuries. We also treat pre and post-surgical cases as well. Pre-surgical treatment is defined as treatment that is done before the surgery in order to enhance the surgery itself (makes it easier or possible to perform the surgery) and to expedite the recovery process. One of the most common pre-therapy procedures is for a hip or knee replacement. This is where we would strengthen and lengthen all the muscles around the hip or knee so that your surgeon can easily reattach these muscles around your new joint. This not only makes the surgeon's job easier, but it can also significantly reduce pain and the recovery time. The most common statement from patients is that the pain intensity and duration is significantly less after their surgery with pre-surgical treatment. Treatments like these enable the patients at our clinic to return to their normal activities faster.
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For those that play sports, the post-surgical treatment is the most common. A post-surgical example is rehabilitation of the shoulder following a rotator cuff surgery. You most likely will need some way to control your pain, re-educated your muscles (strengthen muscles that have been “turned off”), and to regain function in your joint. This is all part of a post-surgical therapy treatment plan.
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Whatever the case may be, whether a simple inversion ankle sprain or a complex post-surgical joint replacement, the professionals at our sports injury clinic can help you recover faster than with traditional treatments alone. Using Chiropractic for sports injuries is an effective and logical approach for the treatment of sports injuries. Our Singapore-based sports Chiropractors will help you reach your treatment goals. Typically, the number one goal of most athletes this return to play as soon as possible. We have helped many athletes do just that. Our clinic has treated athletes from a wide range of sporting backgrounds which include football, baseball, basketball, running, track and field, martial arts, boxing, swimming, gymnastics, tennis, golf, dancing, skiing, biking, and wrestling. We find that no matter what the sport, there is always some commonality within the personal factors or external factors, listed above, that caused their injury. It is important to understand the patient’s sport in order to understand the mechanism of injury. If the player knows how the injury was caused, then they might be able to make changes in their game to prevent future injury occurrences, although there are always accidents which may not be preventable.
THE TREATMENT PROCESS
Sports injury treatment first begins with a Chiropractor listening to your history and performing an examination to arrive at your diagnosis. Once this is established then a treatment plan can be formulated. Treatments typically consist of pain reduction by electrotherapy, manual therapy techniques, soft tissue manipulation, stretching, strengthening, trigger point therapy, and Chiropractic joint manipulation. Our doctors will recommend, if necessary, the appropriate home care in order to maximize the recovery process. We will work with your athletic trainers, coaches, and other healthcare professionals in order to get you back in the game as fast as possible. As your injury improves you may slowly return to your sport. You may be allowed to continue to play even during treatment, but you may have to play at a lower intensity level just to be safe. If playing your sport prevents your injury from improving, then we will ask you to reduce your frequency, intensity, and duration of play, or possibly stop playing altogether for a short while. We understand how important it is to get back in the game especially if your team needs you. So our goal is to get you back on the field as fast as possible. Our philosophy is to have you play your sport while we treat you, if possible. Most athletes are okay to return to their sport during the treatment phase, but others may need to rest first in order to recover from their injury. We actually want you to engage in some physical activity so that you can:
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1) Keep the area active and loose
2) Not become deconditioned during the treatment process and
3) Test your injury to measure your progress
THE GOAL OF SUCCESSFUL SPORTS INJURY TREATMENT
During your initial consultation, we will discuss the mechanisms of your injury and why it occurred. Once you understand this, then you can make some changes in order to prevent your injury from reoccurring in the future. This could be as simple as changing equipment or changing the biomechanics of how you play your sport. You may work on these changes yourself, or along with your coach (or other sports advisors). The goal is to prevent re-injuries from occurring. For example, after an inversion ankle sprain, the ankle swells due to the inflammation process of tearing/stretching ligaments in the ankle. Initially, our job is to reduce the inflammation and pain in the ankle. Subsequent treatment goals would be to strengthen and stabilize the ankle so that it will be less likely to occur in the future. In many cases, patients tend to re-sprain the same ankle over and over. The reason for this is because they did not get the correct therapy on their ankle in the first place. This means that a simple ankle sprain can become a chronic ankle sprain if not taken care of properly from the beginning. Chronic simply means that the condition has been there for a long duration and it may happen often. For this ankle example, it means that supporting ligaments are torn significantly and that the supportive ankle tendons are over-stretched. This causes the ankle to be unstable when playing sports since the support structures are damaged. We would like to fix your simple ankle sprain correctly the first time, so you can return to your sport with confidence in your ankle. Chronic ankle sprains can be improved, but may take more treatment to do so. Games are won by thinking about strategies of how to win, and not thinking about your sports injuries. We are the Chiropractors for sports injury treatment. Call our Singapore clinic for all of your sports injury needs. 6346-6580