About Sports

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, at 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.

Muscles become strained when they are under stress and 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.

Treatment of both the muscles and joints ensuring symmetry and balance in the body reduces strain on muscles. Soft tissue massage, joint mobilisation and re-alignment can be provided by our massage therapists and osteopaths or physiotherapist. The emphasis then is on effective stretching and good warm-up and warm-down practices, which we will ensure is tailor-made to you.

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 and massage 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 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 and massage 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.

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.

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.