Sports Related Injury
With NTO Wellness and Rehab Centre (NTO Rehab) offering multidisciplinary health and medical professional services puts us in a great position to provide a team approach to your particular rehabilitation program. When it comes to your sports-related injury rehabilitation program it is critical that you have the right team of doctors and therapists at hand to assess your situation so that the best service and treatment plan can be custom-made to your body. We have our very own resident RMT, CAT and CPT so you know that you are in good hands at NTO Wellness and Rehab when it comes to your road to recovery from any sports, athletic or physical injury.
Sports injuries are acute and chronic injuries sustained during performing physical activities. A sprained ankle from hiking, a dislocated shoulder from playing competitive hockey and a persistent shoulder tendonitis from swimming can all be categorized as sports injuries.
Acute sports injuries usually involve inflammation. The symptoms are represented as swelling, heat, altered function (not able to move and/or bear weight very well), redness and pain. Often times, the symptoms of acute injuries diminish within a few days and never come back again. Other times, the injury site may feel better after the first few days, but never goes away. In the latter case, the acute injuries have now become chronic.
Chronic sports injuries are those that last longer than weeks. All symptoms of inflammation may not necessarily be present for a chronic injury. In fact, in many chronic injuries, there is no inflammation present regardless of the persistent pain.
Some chronic injuries have its “on” and “off” periods. During their “off” periods, they seem to be gone and no further treatment seems to be needed. However, after a vigorous game of hockey or running session, for example, they “flares up” again. The “on” and “off” periods repeats themselves over and over again, until the “on” time is so long or so severe that one cannot continue his or her favourite activity.
In any of the above categories of injuries, therapeutic intervention is the key to optimal tissue healing. Without proper rehabilitation, it is difficult for the injured tissue to recover to its previous stage of strength and flexibility, hence leaving the potential of further injuries such as repetitive occurrence or compensation of other areas of the body.
For sports injuries that need to be repaired by surgeries, therapy is also important. Properly designed pre-operational therapy sessions effectively prevent excessive pain, loss of muscle strength, and loss of joint mobility. While one waits for his or her surgery, these sessions prepare his or her body for the surgery and therefore helps the body recover faster once the surgery is completed.
Once the surgery is completed, the surgery site might be swollen and stiff with pain once again. In order to dissipate the pain and restore normal function of the body part, rehabilitation sessions are the best options.
In sports injury rehabilitation, our ultimate goal is to bring one back to her or his physical activity or sports as soon as possible. No matter it’s an acute or chronic injury, or post-operational rehabilitation, the following goals will always be addressed:
- Decrease pain
- Increase joint range of motion
- Increase tissue flexibility
- Increase muscle strength
- Prevent compensation and further injury
- Increase sports-specific capabilities – for example, shoulder power for throwing, thigh flexibility for kicking, agility for playing ball games, etc. etc.
At NTO Wellness and Rehab, our health care professionals treat your sports injuries with a team approach. With the communication between our athletic therapist, physiotherapist, chiropractor, your own physician, and even your coach and family, we aim to bring you the treatment best for you and send you back to your game field as soon as possible.