Most sports injuries can be effectively treated or prevented by your Chartered Physiotherapist, enabling you to return to your sport as soon as possible.
Common causes of injuries:

• Poor preparation for sport

Warm up allows you to increase body temperature and blood flood to the muscles and joints of the limbs in preparation for exercise. Post- exercise cool down and stretching will help reduce next day stiffness.

• Doing too much training too soon

Your body needs time to adapt and strengthen during your exercise programme. Listen to your body- pain during or after exercise may be a signal that you are doing too much.

• Unsuitable equipment

Your sports gear needs to be in good condition and suitable for the sport. For example, helmets, racquets, shin guards, gum-shields and footwear need to fit properly.

• Returning to sport too soon after injury

Any injury will predispose you to injury in the future. Make sure you see a chartered physiotherapist so that you will undergo appropriate rehabilitation and receive the right advice to help prevent this.

Injured?

Severe pain, swelling and bruising are signs of serious injury and should be reviewed by a medical professional.
More mild aches and pains apply the PRICE principles.

PRICE

P- Protect the injured part with a support bandage, sling or crutches as required.
R- Rest the injured area to allow healing and to avoid further injury.
I- Ice apply an icepack wrapped in a damp cloth (to avoid an ice burn) for 10 minute periods.
C- A compression bandage will help control swelling. Take care that it is not too tight.
E- Elevate the injured area above the level of the heart if possible.

Avoid any of the harm factors

Heat increases bleeding in the injured tissues.
Alcohol (and dancing) increases swelling.
Exercising too soon makes the injury worse.
Massage in the first 24hours may disrupt healing.

Getting back in the game

Before you can safely return to sport the injury should have healed. It is essential to regain sufficient strength, mobility, balance and coordination for your sport.
Chartered physiotherapists are experts in the assessment and treatment of sports injuries. With a comprehensive knowledge of biomechanics, tissue pathology and healing, chartered physiotherapists are appointed to many sports teams to oversee the fitness and rehabilitation of injured players. They also play a key role in injury prevention via pre-participation screening.

If you are a regular runner, cyclist, rugby, GAA or hockey player you will benefit from the use of a foam roller. It's a cylindrical piece of foam that you can use to self- massage areas of tightness in muscles, helping to keep you supple and less likely to get hurt.

Top inter-county teams, top triathletes and international hockey players regularly use foam rollers to assist their recovery and maintain flexibility.

Key areas to foam roll are

1. Outside of the thighs (quadriceps muscles and iliotibial bands)

2. Buttock muscles (gluteals and piriformis)

3. Calf muscles

Foam Rollers are available for purchase at Cahir Physiotherapy

Improving your golf involves paying close attention to your technique. If you are stiff in your back or shoulders teeing off you won’t be in the best condition to get your first drive on the fairway. Take 5 minutes to warm up before you start and it may pay back in a better score.  It will reduce your risk of injury.

Every golfer should spend at least 5 minutes warming up prior to hitting a ball.

This is particularly important at this time of year when it’s cold. Warming up using a few simple exercises can improve the mobility in your shoulders, back and hips making it easier for you to execute the perfect swing.Warm up can be done in the warmth of the club house or at the first tee. ‘Golfers are notorious for neglecting warm up prior to playing and this leads to an increased risk of injury, particularly for those who spend hours sitting at work’, according to Cahir Chartered Physiotherapist Karen Coughlan. ‘Five minutes is all it takes to get rid of some of the staleness in the muscles and joints for hitting the first ball on the first tee’, she added.

Time it so that you don’t stop warming up until at least 5 minutes has passed.

Each exercise should be pain free and the only sensation you should feel is a gentle stretch. If you are feeling pain you should stop the particular exercise. Start with a trunk twist- your feet should be firmly on the ground and you should try to twist from the waist up only. Do this for 30 seconds. Then twist a bit further by twisting the hips too for another 30 seconds.

Lunge forwards into a half- kneeling position 5 times on each leg (you will feel a stretch at the front of the thigh if you are doing this correctly). If you can, lunge forwards and twist at the waist too. For the shoulders place your 2 hands on either end of the club and raise it overhead 10 times.

Lean to the left and to the right with the club overhead 10 times each side.  You will probably feel a stretch between the shoulder blades doing these exercises too. Do each exercise as described in rotation for 5 minutes.

Do these exercises as a routine before each round. You’ll start to notice the difference straight away. Your swing will feel freer and you will be on your way to lowering your handicap.

                                         

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