Like the overarching study called physiotherapy, sports physiotherapy deals with treatment and therapy of any bodily injury. However, it doesn’t just stop with therapy. It also includes advice, exercise, and education of how the muscles, tendons, and bones interact to allow you to move. For sports physiotherapy, it is a more specialized branch wherein different physiotherapists specialize in different sports to manage sports injuries.
You might be wondering why sports had to have a specialized branch in physiotherapy. This is because athletes require a different level of performance in terms of sports as compared to casual players. Athletes undergo rigorous training and exercises that push their bodies to the limit. Since more energy and power are used, injuries resulting from games and training can be worse than those you get from just playing for fun. Some of the injuries they treat are the following:
Muscle Strain
Muscle strains occur when the muscles are overstretched due to extensive movement. It can also refer to overstretched tendons. Even though strains can be healed by waiting it out for a few days, athletes cannot afford missing out on training for that long. This is why they resort to sports physiotherapy. The exercises and massages done will increase blood flow and slowly relieve the affected area.
Muscular Pain
Similar to strains, muscular pain can be due to overuse or too much tension on the muscles. It can also be caused by too much stress or physical activity. A good way to heal this is getting a massage that targets the affected area. This will increase blood that will help warm the pain.
Fracture
When fractures occur, the injured part has to be conditioned so that it goes back to its original performance. Physiotherapy helps by improving the strength of the injured area as well as the muscles surrounding it.
However, sports physiotherapy is not limited to healing injuries. It can also be used as a preventive method and a conditioning approach. In line with this, it has several other benefits. One, it boosts the overall physical strength of the athlete. This is needed because athletes continuously face exercises that will test their body’s limits. It is important they are able to endure those tough movements. When athletes go through sports physiotherapy, their body is trained to withstand these workouts and exercises. It trains their body to endure strenuous activities.
Another benefit of sports physiotherapy is it is a good way to de-stress the body. After a long day of working out and practice, athletes need to release the tension in their muscles so that it won’t hurt the next day. Physiotherapy will revive the muscles and help regain the energy lost during the day.
Lastly, sports physiotherapy was developed so that athletes playing different sports can be focused on. Take for example, a tennis athlete can go to his physiotherapist so that a program can be done that would fit the athlete himself. The same thing would be done for a swimmer. Since sports physiotherapy is specialized, different physiotherapists can give varying programs depending on their patient. Because of this, every athlete can have a tailor-fit program that would boost their performance.
Further Reading: Top Things To Consider When Opting For A Physio
