Whether you’re a professional athlete or you simply enjoy being active, having a chronic sports injury – i.e. one that persists or is constantly recurring – can impact your daily life and your ability to fully enjoy your favourite sport(s).
Chronic sports injuries aren’t just limited to athletes. As the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases highlights, “Factory workers get tennis elbow, painters get shoulder injuries, and gardeners develop tendinitis, even though they may not participate in sports.”
What can you do about managing your injury? Is there hope for a full recovery? How can sports physiotherapy help? These are the questions for today’s blog.
What is a chronic sports injury?
When people talk about sports injuries, you may hear them described as ‘acute’ or ‘chronic’.
An acute injury tends to come on quickly and be caused by a single incident that you can easily pinpoint, perhaps a collision or a sudden change in direction. The symptoms may be severe, but there is a good chance of recovery with the right treatment. Injuries like a broken bone, concussion, dislocated shoulder, ACL tear, rotator cuff tear, or a muscle sprain all fit in this category.
An acute injury can lead to the following symptoms:
- Sudden, severe pain
- A bone or joint that is visibly out of place
- Being unable to put weight on a leg, knee, ankle, or foot
- Weakness of the injured limb
- Extreme swelling or bruising
- Not being able to move a joint normally
Chronic sports injuries, on the other hand, tend to be caused by long-term wear and tear, repetitive motions, overuse, biomechanical issues, improper technique, or lack of rest; think injuries such as runner’s knee, tennis elbow, stress fractures, shin splints, plantar fasciitis, tendinitis, and chronic back pain.
While the symptoms may be less dramatic, they are likely to include pain when you play and exercise, a dull, persistent ache, and some swelling even when you’re at rest. This can affect your ability to sleep, sit comfortably, or perform everyday activities.
If you have a chronic sports injury, you will typically find that it persists beyond the normal healing time. While it may have been caused by overuse or repetitive stress, some chronic problems are the result of an acute injury that wasn’t treated correctly.
Unfortunately, long-term wear and tear and an underlying chronic issue can make people vulnerable to acute injuries. For example, if you have a problem such as runner’s knee, you may be more prone to twists and sprains in this already weakened area.
The role of physiotherapy in managing a chronic sports injury
If you have a chronic sports injury, then physiotherapy should be a core element of your ongoing treatment and recovery for several reasons:
Assessment and diagnosis
A physiotherapist, especially if they specialise in sport-specific rehabilitation, will perform detailed assessments to identify the underlying causes of your chronic sports injury, including muscle imbalances, joint dysfunction, and movement patterns.
Armed with this knowledge, they will then create an individualised treatment plan based on your specific needs and goals. If you are an athlete, whether professional or amateur, this treatment plan will include helping you return to your favourite sport.
Depending on the nature of the injury, a physiotherapist will be able to help you improve or manage the symptoms, or even find relief and prevent the problem from recurring.
Pain management
Chronic sports injuries tend to be associated with ongoing pain and discomfort, so effective pain management is vital. Manual therapies such as joint mobilisation, soft tissue massage, and myofascial release can each help to reduce pain and improve mobility.
Sports injury physiotherapy also includes the use of modalities such as ultrasound therapy, TENS (Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation), and heat/cold therapy to manage pain and inflammation.
Rehabilitation exercises
Many chronic sports injuries are the result of biomechanical issues, such as weak or imbalanced muscles. Therefore, your physiotherapist will want you to practice a variety of strengthening exercises appropriate to the affected area.
Stretching and mobility exercises are important too, as they will help you to improve your range of motion and reduce any stiffness that you might be experiencing.
A sports physiotherapist can also support your recovery with functional training exercises that mimic the movements of your chosen sport. This will help you achieve a safe return to activity.
Education and prevention
Once you have recovered from your chronic sports injury or it is being effectively managed, it’s important that you take steps to prevent it from recurring. A physiotherapist can educate you about proper techniques, equipment use, and the importance of rest and recovery.
In addition, correcting and strengthening your posture as much as possible helps to reduce the strain on chronic injury sites, which can help with pain management and can prevent the problem from getting worse.
Sports massage
Sport injury physiotherapy includes a variety of sports massage techniques, including deep tissue massage, trigger point therapy, deep friction massage, myofascial release, and more. These techniques all help to relieve tension, improve circulation, reduce inflammation, and promote healing.
Sports massage techniques can also break down scar tissue that may contribute to chronic pain and restricted movement.
As well as the physical benefits, these techniques can help to reduce stress and anxiety and give you a sense that you are taking positive steps towards recovering from or successfully managing your chronic injury. This will positively impact your overall well-being, which is so important if your injury has been impacting all aspects of your life.
Physiotherapy is a key ingredient in recovery
One of the many benefits of physiotherapy and sports massage is that they complement one another and can be safely used alongside other treatments to provide a holistic approach to managing chronic injuries.
You can rely on physiotherapy in the early stages of recovery from an injury, but it is also a powerful component of a long-term injury management plan because it can be adapted and refined to meet your changing needs.
Of course, consistency is key. Your treatment plan will only be effective if you keep up with recommended exercises and other treatment modalities and if you follow your physiotherapist’s recommendations about posture, correct positioning and technique, and other steps to reduce the risk of re-injury.
It’s essential that you pay attention to your body and avoid pushing through pain, as this can exacerbate chronic conditions. A physiotherapist can help you explore ways that you can stay active – for example, with low-impact activities like swimming or cycling – to maintain your fitness without aggravating your injury. They will also guide you as to how you can use rest days and sleep to boost your recovery.
Helping you feel and perform at your best
Whether you’re living with a chronic sports injury, need help with injury prevention, or are returning to your favourite sport or activity after a break, sports physiotherapy can make a world of difference.
Our experienced team would be happy to discuss how it could help you personally and arrange a consultation.
