About... Sports
You want to look after your health, lose some weight or simply enjoy the benefits
of being active or being part of a team sport. Whether you are running the marathon
or taking a regular walk, training for a triathalon or playing the occasional round
of golf, body- building or doing the gym once a week: everyone can become injured
and to continue successfully, everyone benefits from help.
We treat anyone from world-class cricket players, professional golfers, renowned footballers and international show jumpers to those who just like to dance or climb or relish an occasional spin on their bike.
Whatever your sport, we
can help, especially if frustratingly, you sustain injuries and then find it hard
to train. You may be unsure if you are doing the right thing by continuing to exercise,
feel perhaps you are getting too old for your sport or need specialist advice on
strategies to keep you fit.
That’s where we come in: a specialist team, based in Derby, fully qualified to advise
and care for you whilst you are exercising, maximising the effect of your training
and helping to keep you well.
Our team consists of professional osteopaths, sports injury practitioners, podiatrists and if you’re struggling with motivation, hypnotherapists!
Together, we can support your fitness program and help you stay injury free, minimising
your pain. You may simply want a few tips, such as realising how important a good
warm-up and warm-down is to minimise muscle, tendon and ligament strains, or you
may need more detailed nutritional support to help you achieve your goals. Your
training footwear may be causing or contributing to your pain so a lower limb biomechanical
assessment may be required, or you are just experiencing muscle tightness and need
massage and specialist stretches to help.
See below for more information on commonly acquired injuries or call to discuss
your needs – we are here to help!
Just phone 01332 553332 and we will direct you to the appropriate member of our
team.
Muscle Strains
Muscles become strained when they are under stress and micro tears then larger 1st,2nd
or 3rd degree tears occur when they are being asked to contract further. This may
be because the load may be beyond their capabilities, or because they were already
tight to begin with. This is why a good training regime is important to build muscle
which cam cope with increasing amounts of stress, and why effective warm-ups and
warm-downs are essential to ensure the muscle is not already tight prior to exercise.
Once a muscle is damaged it needs a good blood supply to bring nutrients and remove
waste products efficiently. It also needs to heal with the minimal amount of scar
tissue to minimise further injury. The joints which the muscles surround need to
be able to move freely to reduce strain on the muscles and if the skeleton is symmetrical,
this also reduces needless strain.
Osteopathy treats both the muscles and joints ensuring symmetry and balance in the
body which reduces strain on muscles. This is achieved with soft tissue massage,
joint mobilisation and re-alignment. Osteopaths at About Backs & Bones have a philosophy
that ‘Less is More’ and will achieve these ends with minimal force and pain and
a range of techniques to suit everyone. The emphasis then is on effective stretching
and good warm-up and warm-down practices, which your osteopath will ensure is tailor-made
to you.
Tendon Strains
Tendons are the tissue where the muscle belly narrows and changes in consistency
to become more ‘stringy’, and less elastic and then attaches to a bone. They are
subject to the same strains that muscle is, as they are, after all, the ends of
the muscle. They do not have such a good blood supply as the muscle, however, and
so take longer to heal. The treatment is similar to muscle strains.
Ligament Sprains
Ligaments are connective tissue, often‘stringy’ similar to tendons but are less
elastic and so prone to injury. Their function is to support joints in their optimal
position and when they become damaged, other structures forming the joint also become
vulnerable to damage. They do not have a good blood supply which means their recovery
time is even slower than a fracture, and for some sprains, a hard cast is necessary
to keep the joint supported to prevent further damage whilst the ligaments heal.
Osteopathy is useful whilst the healing is taking place as it minimises the pressure
on the affected joint by ensuring surrounding joints are moving and functioning
freely; taking the strain and compensating for the injury. It also reduces pain
and helps disperse swelling by working on the soft tissue, which also promotes symmetry
so the joint can heal in an optimal position. The surrounding muscles can often
be trained to support the joint thus relieving the strain on the ligaments and for
some individuals who are hypermobile, this may be the mainstay of their treatment.
Shin Splints and Stress Fractures
Shin splints and stress fractures occur when a muscle is so loaded, instead of tearing
in the muscle belly, it tears where the tendon attaches to the bone (shin splint).
Sometimes this causes the bone to split on its outer edge (stress fracture) and
because the muscle is constantly pulling on that same area as we walk or run, it
does not get chance to heal effectively. Osteopathy works on the muscles directly
to reduce tension and promote a good blood supply to aid healing, whilst also ensuring
the surrounding joints are mobile, reducing strain on the affected muscles.
Achilles Tendonitis and Severs Disease
The calf muscles are powerful muscles which propel us forward in walking or running,
or upward in jumping. They have to perform strongly and often suddenly which makes
them more vulnerable to strain. The Achilles tendon is the weak point, as is the
point at which it attaches to the heel bone and tendonitis here is common (see muscle
strains for more detail and treatment). Severs disease occurs when the Achilles
tendon pulls hard regularly on the heel bone so that a bony lump eventually forms
which is painful.
Osgood-Schlatters Disease
This is the same as Severs Disease (see above) but occurs just below the knee where
the patella tendon inserts onto the tibial tuberosity, which then enlarges and becomes
painful. (see muscle strains for treatment)
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