A SPORTS PHYSIO’S TOOLKIT

One of my favourite Sports Physio challenges is working with my patient on how to keep them training during the injury rehab process.

As anyone who has ever been injured knows, being injured is the worst.

Injuries are painful. Injuries take you away from things you enjoy doing. Injuries rob you of your fitness. Injuries limit your ability to socialise. Injuries attract annoying questions asking how long you will be out injured for. Injuries invite unsolicited (and typically unqualified) advice regarding various ointments to apply and exercises to perform that will guarantee your speedy recovery.

As I said, injuries are painful.

However, helping an athlete (and remember that every patient is an athlete) return to their chosen sport can be one of the most fulfilling aspects of our jobs.

So here are a few tips to help you help keep your athletic patients training:

Find out about their training week.

I want to understand what my patient’s injury is keeping them from doing. I want to find areas of their training that they can safely continue with while they recover. Not only do I want to find out what nights they train, but also what kind of training they do in each session, how hard the sessions are and if there any key session.

Work out return to play goals:

I want to find out if there are any events coming up such as finals or key races that are a priority. You may also want to discuss with your athlete their priorities. It isn’t uncommon for an injured athlete to be in no rush returning to sport. Knowing if your athlete wants to return to sport, and if so, what that return looks like will help you establish a suitable management plan.

Focus on what can be done:

Sure, injuries can stop your athlete from participating in their chosen sport. However, it doesn’t stop them from completing their rehabilitation program and nor should it stop them from participating as much as possible. If your patient can’t run, then see if they can cycle pitch side. See if they can complete their rehab pitch-side. Perhaps they can complete the session with a strict no-contact policy.

An involved athlete is a happy athlete:

I find that an athlete who continues to attend training despite being unable to participate completely will remain more motivated to complete the rehab plan. It maintains their training week schedule, coaches and teammates assist in the encouragement we all need when injured – despite the occasional unsolicited and unqualified advice.

Injuries are painful. Keeping your athlete involved can ease that pain.

FINDING WAYS TO KEEP YOUR ATHLETE INVOLVED.