Sports Injury Treatment In Walton On The Hill

The term lordosis normally refers to an excessive “lordotic” curve within the lumbar spine. Normally the curve within the lumbar spine resembles a shallow C shape, but in some people this curve can be greater.

The neck also naturally has a lordotic curve, so the term lordosis can also refer to an increased curve in the neck.

In either case, the presence of a lordosis in the neck or the lower back doesn’t necessarily lead to pain or injuries being more common.

However, in certain circumstances a lordosis can lead to sports injuries primarily through overuse injuries to the muscles or joints around the lower back or neck, particularly if the lordosis develops suddenly such as from trauma. 

The healing time for a sports injury will depend on which structures have been injured. Muscles, ligaments and bones all have different healing times which are dictated by natural physiology.

In many cases, sports injuries can be given the greatest chance to recover quickly by your actions within the first week or two of the injury.

An acronym called RICE used to be used to help explain what to do post injury to allow speedy recovery – Rest, Ice, Compress, Elevate. Over the years this has changed according to the most recent evidence, and now the formula to follow is Peace and Love – Protect, Elevate, Avoid anti-inflammatories (for the first 48 hours), Compression, Education, Load, Optimism, Vascularisation, Exercise.

This acronym takes several things into consideration to help you recover quickly from a sports injury, such as not using anti-inflammatory medication for the first 48 hours after an injury, as this can delay the tissue healing. It also takes into consideration the importance of returning to movement and loading the injured area as soon as it can be tolerated, which will help to recover quickly from the injury and ensure it does not return again. 

According to a study done in the UK in 2020, playing football has the highest chance of a sports injury, followed by basketball, hockey and then golf.

The term kyphosis normally refers to an increased curve in the thoracic spine, the upper back. When this curve is increased beyond normal measures, the muscles and joints in the upper back and across the shoulders will be placed under greater biomechanical load, which over time can lead to overuse injuries such as tendonitis or eventually possible muscle strains or joint sprains.

An acronym called RICE used to be used to help explain what to do after a sports injury to allow for a quick recovery – Rest, Ice, Compress, Elevate. This then changed to PRICE, adding Protect, followed by evolving into POLICE which added Optimal Loading instead of rest. Over the years these changes occurred due to the most recent evidence on sports injury recovery, and now the formula to follow is Peace and Love – Protect, Elevate, Avoid anti-inflammatories (for the first 48 hours), Compression, Education, Load, Optimism, Vascularisation, Exercise.

This acronym consists of things to do both in the short term (such as protecting and elevating the injury as well as avoiding anti inflammatory medication) as well as things to do in the medium and long term that will help you recover from an injury (Loading and Vascularisation). This way, not only can you quickly recover from a sports injury but you can strengthen the injured area so that you are not at risk or re-injury. 

As we age, certain natural physiological processes slow down, which includes our ability to recover quickly from an injury or even from vigorous exercise. As a result, a 50 year old footballer is going to take longer to physically recover from a match than a 20 year old footballer. Over time, this lack of quick recovery can cause older athletes to pick up overuse injuries from placing too much repetitive load on areas of their body, before that area was able to fully recover.

Another reason increased age can cause sports injuries is due to a process called sarcopenia, which means age-related muscle loss. After the age of 31, we start to lose some of our lean muscle mass each year. This loss of muscle mass means we are more prone to injury as less muscle mass results in less strength, less load tolerance and often less mobility, which are all risk factors in developing sports injuries. 

Never play sports. Now whilst that might sound facetious, we have still not found the magic formula for avoiding all sports injuries. If we had, the multi-billion pound football clubs would never have any injured players, but clearly their players do still get injuries.

One of the tricky things about sports injuries is that there is often a multitude of factors that lead to them developing, including things such as sleep quality, hydration levels, nutritional optimisation, not to mention things such as joint mobility, muscle strength fatigue levels, fitness, structural anomalies… You get the drift, it’s a complicated world in sports science.

However, that being said there are certainly things you can do to lower or increase your risk of developing sports injuries. For example, a lot of injuries that recreational runners develop happen due to doing too much too quickly after not doing enough for too long. Paying attention to the amount of load you are placing on your body is a really good way to make sure you don’t place too much stress or strain on your body and therefore stay free from sports injuries.

In addition to this, having optimal recovery post exercise / sport is a great way to stay injury free. Simple things such as ensuring you get 7-8 hours of sleep and making sure you are eating enough calories and protein will allow your body to recover much quicker after exercise. 

Sports massage can be a useful part of recovery from a sports injury at both the short term phase and the long term phase. Sports massage can help limit the swelling around an injured area in the short term, and can also help to reduce muscle tension in the area around the injury, making sure that the other muscles don’t start compensating and developing tension as a result. 

Sports injuries can be treated by chiropractors. When people develop sports injuries, they will benefit from seeing a chiropractor because they will be able to get a diagnosis as well as a plan on how to recover as quickly as possible from the injury. This plan will probably involve some hands on treatment but should also definitely involve a structured rehabilitation plan to make sure the injured area returns to full strength.