Tag Archives: sports therapy
When you are active your body thrives being in good shape. Being fit is part of a healthy lifestyle, so being on the field or track can make fitness even more enjoyable. But if you suffer from osteoarthritis of the knee, a very common but painful condition for athletes, you know that days spent enjoying your favourite sport can be a little less gratifying with osteoarthritis of the knee dogging you. Osteoarthritis knee pain that bothers you before, during, and after a game, can take a lot of the fun out of it.
What is osteoarthritis of the knee? Osteoarthritis of the knee is a degenerative disease that affects the knee joint, with symptoms ranging from general knee pain, stiffness, decreased range of motion, and muscle weakness. The pain is localized in the knee, making movement difficult.
There are several causes of osteoarthritis knee pain, but the most common often relate to sports. These include trauma to the knee, injuries of the knee joint, a patellar dislocation or patella fracture, or just general wear and tear. Genetic factors can also play a role (i.e. arthritis), as can obesity.
There are a number of different treatment options available for osteoarthritis knee pain sufferers, some are less invasive then others. Hyaluronic acid injections are one of the less invasive forms of treatment of osteoarthritis knee pain. This non-surgical approach to treating osteoarthritis knee pain is fast and effective, resulting in less downtime for recovery and results that get you back in the game that much quicker.
What are hyaluronic acid injections? Also called viscosupplementation injections, hyaluronic acid injections involve the injection of hyaluronic acid into the knee joint. Hyaluronic acid is a naturally occurring substance that is already present in the human body. It works to lubricate the joints, making movement easy and painless. It also provides shock absorption to the knee joint. By injecting hyaluronic acid into the knee joint, hyaluronic acid injections help to promote the production of this substance, making movement more smooth and manageable.
A sports therapy clinic is a great place to seek relief from your osteoarthritis knee pain. Using hyaluronic acid injections in conjunction with other forms of osteoarthritis treatment (massage or physical therapy, custom knee bracing) may speed up your osteoarthritis knee pain recovery time.
Don’t let osteoarthritis knee pain keep you from being fit and enjoying your favourite sports. If you have tried other treatments with little success, hyaluronic acid injections could be the answer to your knee pain.
For more information about hyaluronic acid injections to combat osteoarthritis knee pain, contact Athletic Edge Sports Medicine by calling 416-800-0800 or visit www.aesm.ca.
Sunday April 21st marks the 10th anniversary of the Canadian Running Series Foundation Charity Challenge, supporting such charities as the Canadian Cancer Foundation, the Asperger’s Society of Ontario and Kids Up Front. This 10km run attracts participants from across the province that competes for their favourite charity, many of them dressing up as part of the costume contest. You’d better get ready!
Whether you’re a runner who competes in marathons on a regular basis or just like to take a quick jog around the park every day, you know that running can sometimes lead to injuries that put pressure on your body and make your routine uncomfortable. Even worse, if left untreated, such aches, pains, sprains and strains can end up taking you out of commission for extended periods of time. If these minor injuries are keeping you off of the track, it might be time to get some relief.
Active Release Technique therapy is a specialized form of massage therapy that uses advanced massage techniques to treat a number of sports related (and even some un-related) aches and pains. It is a soft tissue system/movement based technique of massage that works to treat problems associated with muscles, ligaments and nerves. Headaches, carpel tunnel syndrome, shoulder and back pain and knee problems are just some of the conditions that Active Release Technique can treat. This form of therapy can also help you deal with issues such as weakness in your muscles and an inhibited range of motion, which, although perhaps not painful, can make your run less enjoyable as it can restrict you.
So how does Active Release therapy work? Using over 500 unique movements, your trained massage therapist will work with you to deal with the pain caused by overuse or a sports injury. Using different motions, and applying hand pressure to the affected areas, your massage therapist will work to remove or break up the fibrous adhesions that can tighten muscles and increase blood flow and release trapped nerves. Together, this will help increase movement and ease pain caused by overuse or other sports related injuries.
Remember: a running injury clinic at a sports therapy clinic is also a smart way to avoid these injuries before they occur. Having a pre-season assessment done will help notify you of problem areas and how to deal with them. Running can be hard on your body, and so prep is just as important as treatment.
If you’re getting ready to run in the CRS Charity Challenge, or just want to get some relief from your sports related aches and pains, visiting a sports therapy clinic for an Active Release Technique massage could be the solution.
To learn more about how Active Technique Release can help ease your sports aches and pains, contact Athletic Edge Sports Medicine by calling 416-800-0800 or visit www.aesm.ca
To operate or not to operatethat is the question, literally. While not quite a line out of Shakespeare its certainly a line out of the life of a true ACL injury sufferer. ACL knee injuries are serious and usually accompanied by considerable pain. ACL injuries can happen during sports, motor vehicle accidents, at even home or work. The ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) is a small ligament that sits deep within the joint located behind the knee cap. While very small, when torn it can cause significant pain and loss of mobility.
ACL knee injuries may require any one of a variety of surgical procedures. There are also several non-surgical treatment options. The plan that ends up being best for you depends on the nature and severity of the tear. Age and lifestyle will also affect your ultimate choice of treatment method. This important decision should be made by you in consultation with your sports medicine physician.
Whether you opt for or against ACL knee surgery, an experienced sports therapy clinic will be essential to your full recovery. Progressive physiotherapy and rehabilitation can restore the knee to a state close to where it was before the torn ACL. A custom knee brace is also imperative when treating a torn ACL – with or without surgery – to help stabilize it during recovery.
A good sports therapy clinic will offer education and a treatment plan that will reduce the likelihood of recurring injury. But since non-surgical treatment options come with no guarantees after time spent trying to nurse an injury back, many people go for surgery to avoid possible relapses of instability of the knee. Your team of sports therapy clinic professionals will have valuable input to guide you in knowing which decision is right for you.
Generally speaking, people may choose a non-surgical solution for repairing a torn ACL for circumstances when:
- It is exclusively the ACL that is injured (that is, that the ACL injury is not combined with other injuries in the knee);
- The tear is partial and no instability symptoms are present;
- The individual does not live a physically demanding lifestyle or have a physically demanding job.
The main motivation for having ACL knee surgery is that the procedure prevents future instability. By restoring the knees stability, athletes can resume their participation in their sports, and often, much sooner.
ACL knee surgery often involves replacing the ACL with a substitute graft made of tendon taken from somewhere in the patients body. This process is called autograft so you could be looking at patellar tendon autograft, or hamstring tendon autograft.
Active, athletic adults or those with a physically demanding job are generally the best candidates for ACL knee surgery. The elderly generally are better to avoid it. For those having surgery, rehabilitative therapy should begin before surgery, to make the postoperative recovery easier, and also about 10 days after surgery.
Working with an experienced physiotherapy clinic will ensure reduction of swelling in the knee, as well as improve mobility, prevent anterior knee problems and eventually restore the joints full range of motion.
If you have suffered an ACL knee injury and would like more information about your surgical and non-surgical options, please call 416-800-0800 or visit www.aesm.ca
Theatre is a wonderful form of entertainment and depends on performing artists who are highly dedicated to their craft to create the magic so often found there. The industry, however, is highly competitive and extremely demanding of performers. When people think of athletes they may picture football, tennis or basketball players or long distance runners. But like other athletes, dancers and musicians also experience injury and develop conditions as a result of their trade.
Professional musicians and dancers face common injuries like tendinitis, sprains, muscle strains, carpal tunnel syndrome, neck and back pain, and other orthopedic, neurologic and musculoskeletal conditions.
Think about the repetitive nature of practice and performance for string musicians, pianists and wind instrument players. Its little wonder they often suffer from conditions related to overuse of the tendons, ligaments, muscles and joints. Neck and shoulder pain is very common. So is pain in the hands. Dancers tend to face musculoskeletal and orthopedic conditions involving the feet, ankles, hips and knees and are also more prone to injury regarding bones and ligaments such as the ACL.
For these reasons preventative medicine and sports therapy for performing artists are growing.
Occasionally chronic injuries and/or conditions develop as a result of incorrect posture, stress, insufficient rest and excessive force placed upon the bones, ligaments, joints, muscles or tendons. Passion that drives performing artists also tends to produce people so committed to the craft they often tend to accept a lifestyle of injury as easily as theyve embraced the physical demands placed upon them. But the two are not the same, and injury left untreated can jeopardize a performers career. Performing artists who ignore early symptoms of an injury or condition and continue working, without allowing conditions or injuries to heal, arent thinking of the long term consequences to their body and their ability to work. Ignoring a small problem now can lead to a larger one later.
Preventative medicine and sports therapy for performing artists can teach them how to avoid injury and reduce the likelihood of a developing an unwanted condition. Performers can learn techniques for reducing force on joints by selectively strengthening and balancing the muscles needed to perform. Musicians can learn about how different postures reduce muscle tension produced while playing their instruments. Dancers who struggle with osteoarthritis in their hips and knees may receive Durolane injections directly into the joints to lubricate them, relieving pain and inflammation. Can you imagine how much relief this brings to a dancer otherwise forcing him or herself to continue dancing in pain?
Techniques that both dancers and musicians can adopt include warm up and cool down exercises, stretches, short breaks, adjustments in technique, use of devices and modified foot gear, massage therapy and more. Sports therapy professionals can work with performing artists to stretch and loosen tight areas and strengthen weak ones. Combination treatment options like injections in correlation with procedures for reducing inflammation and blood flow to a targeted region are essential restorative therapies which often remove the need for surgery.
It is not uncommon to see medical personnel from sports therapy clinics present at rehearsals and performances. These behind the scenes professionals can do wonders to support and enhance performing artists, helping them avoid injury and also mitigating injuries to avoid further damage. Sports medicine is a quickly evolving industry and medical advances are constant. Performing artists stand to increase their rate of long-term success by establishing and building a relationship with a good sports therapy clinic that understands and specializes in treatment of people in their industry.
Sound care now becomes an investment enabling performing artists to increase their level of pain-free comfort, physical strength, enjoyment and longevity within the field they are passionate about — and that many hope to continue well into their senior years.
For more information about preventative medicine and sports therapy for the performing arts please call 416-800-0800 or visit www.aesm.ca
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