Many student athletes will approach injuries as though they are isolated events. You have probably had the experience of getting hurt, and treating this like it is something that happened, and something that you will just get over. Once you are done with your mandatory healing time, you have probably just tried to keep going, by building your strength to get back into performance condition.
The only problem with this approach is that there is damage that happened inside of your body that has actually changed the way your body works. You may not be able to see it, and you probably only feel twinges of it from time to time, but that internal hang up can turn into a big problem as time goes on.
Part of this unseen problem is a factor of how the body heals. As muscle tissue reforms around the injured area, it is also forming scar tissue. Scar tissue does not respond in quite the same way as healthy muscles, and it can tend to bind and reduce range of motion. This is the same for tendons and ligaments, and all of these fibers will also shorten slightly as they are healing. The result is that while you might be able to recover much of your strength, you are still losing a lot of power and mobility.
This also means that injuries are not really isolated events. Once they happen, your body is changed, but you can take steps to ensure that the lasting damage is not nearly as severe as it could be.
Case Study
At Core1Inc., we use physical therapy techniques at any stage of healing, in order to help you regain all of your power and strength. This is because we can help our clients with mobility and other exercises that can minimize the formation of scar tissue. We also use a lot of stretching exercises to keep the muscles and ligaments long as well as strong.
One of our clients who had amazing recovery results was a gymnast who had torn her sartorius. When she first came in, she could barely walk or stand upright, and had been told by her sports doctor that she would have a severe limp for the rest of her life. This was not an acceptable outcome for her, so she came to Core1Inc. to see what we could offer.
With such a severe injury, we obviously had to start out very light and easy. The first few months of physical therapy consisted mainly of some very slow walking activities and a lot of manual manipulation. After nearly a year of physical therapy, this gymnast is able to not only walk, but also perform at her sport, and even continue to consistently rank in the top ten. The amazing recovery took time, but her hard work and dedication to the physical therapy program played a large part in this.
As a result, this particular athlete has minimal binding in her hip and knee, and was able to recover all of the strength and power that she had before the injury. This is also because she sought out physical therapy programs while her leg was still in the early part of healing. By doing this, she was also able to avoid that really lasting damage.
At Core1Inc., we encourage our student athletes to always take action, whether it is for sports enhancement training or for physical therapy. The drive to get well is really the same as your drive to excel, and that is also why it is important to commit to the process, of healing or of strengthening. By contacting us today, you can find out how physical therapy for athletes could be the answer to a long-term career in sports.
QUESTIONS? COMMENTS? WRITE THEM BELOW! WE’D LOVE TO HEAR YOUR THOUGHTS.
And if you haven’t already, grab a free session by filling out the form in the link below. You can test-drive our Downers Grove speed, strength & sports training program that coaches & athletes can’t stop raving about. Or, if you’re recovering from an injury, you can try out our athletes-only physical therapy program. Hope to see you soon!
Comments