Sports can be a terrific way to keep fit, build confidence, and meet new people.
Whether you're an elite athlete or a laid-back weekend warrior, chances are at some point in time you've suffered an acute injury. As a matter of fact, around seventy percent of leisure players will experience some kind of aches, pains, or discomfort in their joints and muscles during the course of an event. If you participate in any type of sport routinely, it's practically unavoidable that you'll wind up hurting yourself at some point in your athletic activities.
That's due to the fact that the body goes through continuous wear and tear. When we carry out repetitive motions or activities, our muscles end up being tired and begin wearing out quicker.
In time, these microtrauma wounds can cause structural injury in the form of muscle stiffness and/or tendinitis. An injury will keep you from playing your best-loved sport, keep you off the courts or turf for an extended period of time, or result in long-term effects including chronic pain or diminished range of motion. Furthermore, if left without treatment, these injuries can also develop into something more serious in the future.
The bright side is that a sports injury does not have to keep you off the playing field or court for long. Physiotherapy includes a wide range of services to treat lots of sports-related injuries and keep them from becoming chronic. Here are six ways physiotherapy can help cure your sports injury more quickly:
Strengthen Your Existing Muscles
You have probably heard this benefit previously. Every motion you perform in your sport (such as throwing a baseball, running a marathon, or diving in swimming) requires a specific amount of strength in the muscles you make use of. In the case of tossing a ball, that means the muscles in your shoulder, elbow, wrist, and hand.
In time though, these muscles can become imbalanced and weak. This problem can develop as we get older and our bodies lose muscle mass, or can result from a degenerative condition. It can likewise happen if you've been participating in a sport for a long time without providing your muscles an opportunity to rest and recuperate between bouts of activity.
Luckily, you can protect against injuries and maximize your performance on the field with the strengthening exercises your physiotherapist can teach you. Moreover, strengthening your existing muscles can help solve the discomfort, stiffness and inflammation that come with any sports injury.
Alleviate Tendonitis and Strain
The connective tissue in your joints is subject to inflammation and injury because of the continual motion of your joints. However, if your swelling is caused by a tiny tear in the tendon, then physiotherapy can really help to alleviate your tendonitis.
Tendinitis is an inflammatory condition that can develop in your tendons when they become swollen and painful. Certain activities, such as running or leaping, basketball and tennis are particularly likely to cause it. If you experience tendonitis or a strain, physiotherapy can care for your injury faster. It can also help you protect against a strain injury from occurring in the future.
Cultivate New Movement and Strengthening Exercises
As you grow older, your muscles and joints generally end up being less flexible. This could be because of genetics, injury, or an absence of regular physical activity. Furthermore, if you've been participating in a sport for a long time, you might have developed structural imbalances that make you more vulnerable to injuries. For instance, your shoulder muscles might be stronger than your lower back muscles, which puts pressure on the lower spinal column.
If you want to avoid injury and increase your agility, you want to try to cultivate new motion and strengthening workouts. Your physical therapist can teach you the appropriate exercises to increase your mobility and restore joint functionality. Doing so can help repair an injury, lower your risk of injury, improve your flexibility, and increase your overall range of movement.
Enhance Your Range of Movement
When you're injured, you often have to limit your activities and/or your range of movement. As a result, you risk developing discomfort, tightness, and loss of flexibility. Fortunately, as you recover, your joints and muscles gain back their complete range of motion.
This process can take place extremely quickly, but it generally takes about 2 weeks for your muscles to start to rejuvenate and return to their regular shape. To prevent injury and accelerate the recovery process, physiotherapy can apply treatments and workouts that enhance your range of movement. Doing this can ease discomfort, increase your flexibility, and help you get back to your normal activities quicker.
Decrease Inflammation and Tightness
As you recover from an injury and your muscle tissues get stronger, you might develop a build-up of scar tissue. This is a regular part of the recovery process and can help prevent future injuries. In fact, it can help you return to your regular activities much faster. To lessen your danger of suffering from tightness, physiotherapy will help you to maintain your range of motion and flexibility, even though you're not working out.
Prevent Recurring Strain Injuries
A recurring strain injury occurs when a formerly small injury becomes aggravated as you go back to a more extreme level of activity. For instance, if you've been playing basketball for a few weeks and you try to jump higher than you normally do, you might wind up reinjuring your ankle.
Repetitive strain injuries can occur in any sport when the typical level of activity is increased, but they are most typical in sports that include repetitive motion, such as weight training, baseball, football, soccer, and basketball. Physiotherapy can ease strain injuries by re-aligning muscles and ligaments, rubbing out knots or pain points and raising the blood flow to the affected part of your body.
Bottom Line
An experienced physiotherapist can help treat numerous sports injuries, including things like sprains, stress, tension fractures, tendonitis, joint discomfort, and joint dislocation. Sometimes, you might even be able to stop injuries from occurring to begin with. If you want to defend against injuries and increase your effectiveness on the field or court, you ought to try a physiotherapy treatment program.
Physiotherapy can help you strengthen your existing muscles, treat your tendonitis and strain, develop new motion and strengthening exercises, improve your range of motion, reduce swelling and stiffness, avoid repetitive strain injuries, and avoid reinjuries.
Call us today at Ottawa Physical Rehab Clinic and let us help your sports-related injury. Now accepting new clients!
