About Sports
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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, anyone 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 and if you’re struggling with motivation, personal Trainers. Together, we can support your fitness program and help you stay injury free, minimising your pain. You may simply need a few tips, such as realising how important a good warm-up and warm-down is to minimise muscle, tendon and ligament strains, 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!
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, 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.
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.
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 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
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.
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.