No one can doubt the beneficial effects of exercise, from improved strength and stamina, to better resistance to illness. However, it is important to ensure that the exercise, training or competitive sport you engage in, is tailored to your individual capacity, age and technical ability. Proper training is particularly important for physically demanding sports, or if you have not been taking regular exercise. Few athletes avoid some form of physical injury throughout their career. However, there are a number of injuries that can be avoided during training or exercising by preparing properly for your chosen activity. The building blocks of stability, mobility, posture, body awareness, symmetry and balance provide the foundation for sporting movement development and injury resistance.
Physiotherapists are highly experienced in treating injuries caused by sport or exercise, and can help to relieve your pain, restore your mobility and get you on the move again quickly. We will provide an early diagnosis, advice on caring for your injury, recommendations on adjustments to your training, and rehabilitation techniques based on the latest medical thinking. Once you are on your feet again, no doubt you will want to stay that way. So we will look at what caused your injury and discuss ways to avoid it happening again.
We regularly treat common conditions like muscle and ligament strains, joint sprains, tendonitis, joint hypermobility and muscle imbalance. If your injury is more serious, we will liase with your doctor to arrange further investigations and refer you onto the appropriate medical specialist. If you have had surgery following an injury, we can also offer you rehabilitation and aftercare working within the limits of your pain and discomfort, and heeding any restrictions established by your doctor or consultant. It is important that whilst you are under our care, you listen to your body and communicate any signs and symptoms of discomfort to us.
Whether you are into sports competitively or just as a way to keep fit, it is extremely frustrating when an injury holds you back. Acute injuries happen suddenly, whilst chronic injuries can either be as a result of poor technique, or persistently doing more than your body can tolerate. However, you do not have to be injured to benefit from our advice. We are happy to carry out risk assessment sessions, allowing us to identify faulty movement patterns and helping you to develop an exercise programme that reduces your risk of injury and enhances your performance. If exercising is a new experience for you, we will support and encourage you through this process by teaching you simple, specific, mobilising, stretching and strengthening exercises to suit you, reducing your risk of injury whilst you increase your level of training.
If you want to remain fit and avoid injury, exercise should be balanced with rest. Seek early advice for any persistent niggling aches and pains you experience during or after exercising. Although a minor injury may appear to heal, you may experience pain months later, for no apparent reason. It is therefore important to treat acute pain immediately to avoid chronic pain states. Early intervention will allow us to accurately diagnose the problem to ensure a quicker recovery, thus lessening the possibility of long-term damage and complications. Once your body's needs are addressed, it will perform optimally for years. If you have any concerns about an injury, or there is little or no improvement, ring us to book an appointment.
