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AN OVERVIEW OF SPORTS INJURIES, TREATMENT & PREVENTION
SPORTS INJURIES
Are sports injuries common?
Absolutely. All athletes have spent time on the sidelines at one time or another. Some people have a greater susceptibility to picking up particular injuries than other people.
What causes sports injuries?
Sports injuries can come about due to a range of factors, including non-contact high force impacts, repetitive strain, maladaptive biomechanics and direct forces to an area of the body.
Which sports have the most injuries?
You’ll struggle to find a sport that doesn’t involve injuries, however, clearly some sports carry higher risks. Impact sports such as ice hockey, rugby and wrestling involve greater risk of sustaining injuries than relatively sedentary sports or activities such as darts, golf and sailing. However, even those athletes participating in low impact sports find themselves suffering from repetitive strain.
INJURY TREATMENT
Where can you go for sports injury treatment?
There are a range of treatment options available if you’d like to speed up your recovery and get back to training quicker.
These include:
Sports Chiropractic - Chiropractors have become recognised for their expertise on spinal injuries and musculoskeletal disorders, utilising manual therapy to adjust the spine and address issues with the nervous system. An increasing number of sports chiropractic programs in North America and beyond now choose to focus on sports injuries, movement and human mechanics. Such treatment usually includes joint manipulations from mainstream chiropractic, as well as exercise prescription designed to aid injury rehabilitation and build strength, flexibility and increase range of motion.
Physiotherapy - Physiotherapists also work with people with pain and injuries, treating patients in health care settings such as hospitals, care facilities, schools and private clinics. Physiotherapists promote independence and prevent injuries and disability.[1]
Is sports treatment expensive?
Treatment costs can vary considerably between practitioners and often depend on the nature of your injury, the number of body parts involved and the intensity of treatment.
Are sports injuries covered by health insurance?
Health insurance policies often include coverage for the treatment of injuries. However, the type of treatment is often limited by your provider and you should check your policy carefully before undergoing treatment.
In Hong Kong, plenty of insurance policies cover chiropractic treatment and as such, many of our patients are able to claim back fees from their providers. If you’re looking to see if you can claim back fees for chiropractic treatment, be sure to check whether your insurance provider:
covers chiropractic treatment
requests you first visit a GP before visiting a chiropractor.
INJURY PREVENTION
What can I do to prevent future sports injuries?
Top athletes don’t just accept that injuries are part of the game, they train hard to prepare their bodies for the specific demands of their sport.
Whether you are a gym buff, a keen runner or an intrepid sportsperson, you should aim to build an exercise and diet regime that puts your body in the best condition to avoid injury in future.
Check out our exercises for sports injuries to discover exercises to build into your exercise routine.
Why is it so important to select the right exercises when recovering from sports injuries?
If the wrong exercises are employed when recovering from injury, you may see no effect from your efforts or, even worse, experience increased pain, discomfort or exacerbate the injury further. An injury that might have taken 4-6 weeks to full recovery, could then take 4-6 months to heal after an improper rehabilitation regime.
A sports therapist prescribing exercises is similar to a medical doctor prescribing medicine, whereby:
specific exercises for the condition are selected (the prescription)
an appropriate workload (the dosage) is devised, involving: frequency, quantity of sets and repetitions and the weight of the load.
1. Ontario Physiotherapist Association | About Physiotherapy | https://opa.on.ca/about-physiotherapy/
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