For years physiotherapy was mainly utilized to assist patients with mobility issues resulting from accidents or surgery to regain their motor functions. However, due to the emphasis currently being placed on franchise sports, physiotherapy is now applicable in the sports field to improve the conditioning of players as well as assist them to get back into action after suffering an injury.
Additionally, sports physiotherapists get charged with the responsibility of detecting the cause of a player's pain either during training or actual play time to provide a lasting solution as opposed to consistently treating symptoms.
Here are some the most common injuries that physiotherapy treats in athletes.
Torn ligaments and tendons
This is probably the most common injury experienced by most athletes. The injury occurs when an athlete over stresses a muscle group to the point it tears. In most cases, the torn ligaments are either in the shoulder, hip, knees or the groin.
In most cases, an athlete has to undergo surgery to repair the torn muscle tissue after which they must endure several months of physiotherapy to recondition and regain motor functionality of the damaged tissue.
Fracture rehabilitation
When an athlete breaks or shatters an arm or a leg, a cast gets placed to hold the limb steady while the bone reattaches and heals. However, the stiffness of casts forces the limb muscles to be immobile for the months it takes for the fracture to heal.
Hence, when the cast gets removed, the athlete's muscles are weak as a result of being inactive for several months. Physiotherapy treatments commence when the cast gets removed to facilitate the regaining of muscle strength and health.
Joint dislocation
As a result of overexerting themselves, athletes often dislocate their joints. Dislocation occurs when the end of a bone pops out of its socket. As a consequence of the painful experience, an athlete may not have excellent physical use of the dislocated limb for a while. Hence, physiotherapy exercises such as range of motion (ROM) exercises are utilized to prevent the limb from becoming stiff during the healing process.
Arthritis and tendinitis
Many retired professional athletes suffer tendinitis, which is soft tissue inflammation around the bones and muscles, especially around the shoulders, elbows, hip, knees or ankles. Usually, the inflammation is as a result of overusing the body part.
Another common ailment resulting from overworking a joint is arthritis, which is the inflammation or stiffness of the joints.
In both these conditions, physiotherapists apply their knowledge of how an athlete got the conditions to provide treatments that not only relieve the discomfort but also minimize the long-term effects of both conditions.
