One of the commonest questions that physiotherapists get asked by their patients is “Where did this injury come from and how did I get injured?” While knowing what caused an injury is important, what matters more are the steps you take to prevent it from happening again.
Most people today lead sedentary lives and doctors find themselves telling their patients to follow a more active lifestyle and focus on being fit. But there are always some that don’t follow the right exercising techniques, overdo it or don’t warm up before they start working out, and all of these things can eventually result in injuries.
Of course, there are times when people suffer injuries from accidents too; the key to getting through the entire process of healing and returning to regular physical activity levels as quickly as possible is to consult an experienced physiotherapist and follow their advice. Let’s understand more about how injuries occur below.
About sports injuries
If you have suffered a sports injury, the good news is that it’s possible to get specialised physiotherapy treatment and return to your normal physical activity levels post the injury. What’s even better is that taking proper precautions can go a long way in preventing injuries. “Sports injury” is a very broad term; it refers to the injuries that take place during exercise or sports.
While some sports injuries are a result of accidents, a large majority of them are a result of improper equipment, poor training practices, insufficient stretching and warm-up exercises or lack of conditioning. While just about any part of the body can become injured during exercise or while playing sports, this term is generally reserved for injuries which involve the musculoskeletal system (muscles, bones, cartilage, and tendons). Some of the most common sports injuries include:
- Muscle sprains & strains
- Fractured bones
- Dislocated joints
- Ligament tears
- Tendon tears
Excluding contact sports, most injuries that sports persons suffer are a result of the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back.
About other injuries
Even people that aren’t involved in sports can get injured sometimes. If you have any type of injury somewhere, look back and think of all the other injuries you have suffered in the past. Think about the things you did out of habit like sitting in a particular posture, using a dodgy chair at work for a number of years etc. While these things may not have caused significant problems in the past, as you grow older (and your tissues and muscles grow stiffer and more inflexible) some of these things could manifest themselves in more severe ways.
While it may not be possible to discuss every single detail such this, with your physiotherapist, it helps if you can inform him or her about things like “I’ve always had a stiff wrist since my tennis days” or “I’ve had this niggling neck ache ever since I took a tumble while on a skiing vacation” etc. This gives your physiotherapist the chance to decide whether it’s relevant to the current injury or not.
The right treatment plan
A good physiotherapist will always delve a little deeper into your medical history or history of injuries and aches and pains before starting you on any treatment plan. That gives them a more solid foundation to base their physiotherapy sessions on.
We at Insync Physiotherapy have skilled and experienced physiotherapists on board and can provide excellent treatments and care. For any more information on the different types of services we provide, feel free to contact us on (02) 7226 3432. You can also send us your queries via this online form.
Thanks for reading,
Insync Physiotherapy Team
(02) 7226 3432