Sports Injuries

Avoiding Upper Body Injuries

Avoiding Upper Body Injuries 612 408 Jennifer Lane

Playing sports is great fun and an excellent way to stay healthy and in shape, no matter what the age.  But what are the best ways to avoid injury while playing them? It’s important to train your muscles in the way you will use them during competition. Running every week at a 10-minute mile will not prepare you for sprinting up and down a soccer field on the weekend. The same muscles are being utilized but in a much different way. Throwing a ball in the backyard is not the same as pitching multiple innings in a baseball game. Whether you are playing in a rec league, a competitive league or professionally, there are steps you can take to protect your body from injury.  Here are just a few ways you can stay healthy and safe while having fun:

  1. Wear proper head gear: mouthguards, helmets, eye protection help prevent concussions and trauma to face and teeth. Football, lacrosse, ice hockey are contact sports that require proper head protection.
  2. Learn proper techniques: many injuries are sustained from over-use. If proper techniques are utilized while throwing a ball, hitting a puck or kicking a ball you can stay safe to play another day. Also, knowing how to check properly or tackle can help prevent you injuring someone else.
  3. Maintain a strong core: power is transferred from a strong core through the shoulders and hips. The spine stays protected from checks, hits, rapid deceleration and acceleration when you have a strong core. In contact sports, padding in addition to strong abdominal muscles can help protect the organs from any blunt force trauma.
  4. Treat an injury immediately: if you sustain an injury, R.I.C.E. immediately. Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevate. Continue with this protocol for first 72 hours until swelling resolves or until you can see a healthcare provider. If you hit your head, check for a concussion. Most coaches are now trained in screening for concussions. And don’t return to sports before you are ready. Returning to sports before you have healed properly just leads to re-injury and possibly more damage. Take the proper amount of time to recover and seek out a physical therapist to help you rehab correctly from your injury.

Read on for more information about Upper Body Injuries sustained in Ice Hockey. Need more? ProStock Hockey for all your hockey needs.

 

What is the Core?

What is the Core? 451 256 Jennifer Lane

Core strengthening or stabilization has become the buzz phrase in a lot of gyms and fitness classes. But what is it and what is it’s job? Think of the core as a canister. The top of the canister is the diaphragm. Yes, the diaphragm is a muscle and it is an important one! Not only does it help us breathe but it also is very important in having a strong core. The bottom of the canister is the pelvic floor muscles. There are three layers of muscles and their primary job is to keep us continent and to support our internal organs. The walls of the canister are made up of transverse abdominus, internal obliques, multifidus, gluteus medius/minimus and deep hip muscles. The main foll of all of these muscles are to provide a stable base from which to move. To be able to walk, reach for an object, get dressed or participate in any sporting activity, your core muscles activate to hold you stable and balanced. Weakness and instability in the core muscles leads to injury to joints and soft tissue. Weakness in core muscles can lead you to lose your balance and fall, strain your back or your neck. Peaple with weak core muscles tend to have chronic issues with their spine including neck pain and headaches, poor posture and low back pain.

How do you train these muscles to work properly? It is important to work with someone who can cue you correctly. We are great at compensating with stronger muscles whose primary job is not stabilization and this leads to injuries. A qualified physical therapist, pilates instructor or personal trainer can help you learn how to activate the muscles properly. But here are three tips to start you off.

Tip #1: With your hands on your lower ribs, take a deep breath in feeling the ribs expanding laterally into your hands. As you exhale feel your hands come back together. Practicing this and improving on rib excursion during deep breathing activates the diaphragm, one of the most important muscles in the core.

Tip #2: Stand up with good posture. Don’t force it by sticking your chest out or arching your low back. Stand naturally and then pull your belly button in towards your spine as if you were tightening your belt. Try not to move your rib cage or your pelvis while you do that. This is a subtle move and if you were doing this in a crowd of people, they wouldn’t even notice you doing it.

Tip #3: This may be the easiest. Squeeze your buttocks. In standing, sitting or lying down, tighten up those cheeks. This activates the gluts which are part of your core muscles. When contracting them, neighboring muscles also activate helping you have a more stable core.

For more info or help getting a stronger core, contact Jenn Lane at jennlane@holisticpt.net.

Concussions in the Youth Athlete

Concussions in the Youth Athlete 420 280 Jennifer Lane

There are over 300,000 high school athletes that suffer from concussions every year. A study conducted at Northwestern University showed that the number of diagnosed concussions doubled from 2005 to 2015, female athletes experienced greater rates of concussions than male athletes playing the same sports.

This rise in numbers is due in part to athletes coming forward with mild and moderate symptoms as well as more attention being brought to the issue by schools, media and parents. All sports are seeing a rise in reported concussions but many still go unreported. Young athletes still tend to put their team ahead of their own personal health. They don’t want to let down the team during an important game so they don’t come forward to report symptoms.

What are the symptoms of a concussion? Symptoms fall in these following categories: physical, cognitive, emotional symptoms as well as sleep disturbances. Throbbing head, light sensitivity, nausea, lack of appetite, difficulty concentrating, fatigue, loss of consciousness, dizziness, blurred vision, slurred speech, appearing dazed or confused, delayed response to questions, ringing in the ears are just a few signs that you might observe.

What is the role of PT in recovering from concussions? For many years, healthcare providers prescribed rest and removal of all stimulation from a patient recovering from a concussion. But now there is mounting evidence pointing to a more active approach to concussion rehab. Physical Therapists’ expertise in treating vestibular (inner ear), cervical (neck), ocular (vision) and post-traumatic migraines makes them key participants in the rehab process. For patients to have the best recovery takes an interdisciplinary approach that can involve PT’s, physicians, OT’s, ophthalmologists, neurologists, speech pathologists, to name a few.

There are great tools out there to help diagnose for concussions. If you are suspicious of having a concussion or your child having one, go see your PT, athletic trainer, coach or physician. They can help you get a proper diagnosis. There are other tools available too. Headcheckhealth.com app for concussion testing. You can run baseline, sideline and return-to-play concussion tests using mobile app.

The Risk of ACL injuries to the Female Athlete

The Risk of ACL injuries to the Female Athlete 735 490 Jennifer Lane

Female Athletes are 8 times more likely to injure their ACL’s than their male counterparts.

The ACL or Anterior Cruciate Ligament is a critical ligament in all sports involving cutting, sudden changes in directions and sudden stops and decelerations. Why are females more likely to injure this ligament? There are many different reasons including higher center of gravity, more laxity in ligaments, wider hips, slower reflex time, changes in estrogen levels and a greater quadricep to hamstring strength ratio. The good news is that the evidence shows that when female athletes follow a specific training and conditioning protocol, they can significantly reduce the likelihood of an ACL injury. The protocols include proper leg muscle strength training, proper balance and speed training, proper coaching on how to jump and land with bent knees and proper footwear and orthotics as needed. More specifically, plyometric and speed exercises showed to be most effective in reducing ACL injury. Here is a video of 7 excellent exercises for all young athletes to work on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWBSf4BfKRk#action=share

Preventing Injury in the Young Athlete

Preventing Injury in the Young Athlete 1024 681 Jennifer Lane

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I’ve been practicing PT since 2002 and the biggest change that I have seen is in the age of my clients. More and more I work with young people, age 11-17 and it is usually due to a sports-related injury. The kids that specialize in one sport and play 12 months of the year are at risk for overuse injuries, pulled muscles and ligament strains and tears. These kids are great to work with as they have youth on their side and tend to heal very quickly. They are also motivated to get better so they can get back on the field, diamond or court.

So how can these young athletes prevent injury? A proper warm-up consisting of dynamic stretching and exercises to prepare muscles to work, a good diet and plenty of hydration and cross-training. Make sure that kids have time to be kids. The games and activities that kids participate in with their friends are great for using their muscles in diverse ways. Biking to the park, swimming at the local rec center, throwing a ball if they are used to kicking a ball and visa versa are just a few examples of what young athletes can do to stay healthy.

Dynamic stretching is an effective way to warm up muscles, as it incorporates stretching, balance and movement. Coaches are encouraged to replace traditional stretching with this. It warms up the muscles that are most prone to pulls and strains including hamstrings, hip flexors, quads, calf muscles, inner thigh muscles and the glutes. Here are some dynamic stretches that you can start with. PT’s can help develop a more involved routine too!

Jenn Lane

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