Physical Therapy for Athletes
For an athlete, a career spanning a decade is an achievement. During this period, they cannot afford to be sidelined by an injury. Sports injuries may cost an athlete a game, a season, or an entire career. Sustaining an injuring almost always amounts to an early retirement for athletes. Sports are getting more and more competitive and the risk of injury is higher than ever. Neither can athletes take it easy nor can they push themselves too hard. This tightrope that athletes have to walk upon can be widened by adopting physical therapy.
This is how physical therapy can benefit an athlete:
Diagnosis
Physical therapy begins by examining the athlete’s physical condition. The therapist will diagnose the patient’s injury and advise him or her on treatment methods. On agreeing, the therapy regimen will be carried out. The schedule will provide adequate time to focus on rest and recovery. The major advantage of physical therapy is that it treats injuries externally or physically. Surgical procedures can leave an athlete unable to play for months if not years.
Treatment
It refers to the application of specialist advice and techniques to encourage healing. After carefully analyzing your injury, our physiotherapists will determine the best course of action. Physiotherapy is the combination of art and science involving massage, therapeutic physical activities, and scientific procedures to achieve the following goals:
- to improve your strength, range of motion, and function
- to reduce pain and stiffness through joint mobilization and manipulation
- to relieve pain, reduce swelling, speed up the healing process, improve movement and function
- to remove barriers to function
Rehabilitation
It refers to progressive management for full return to sport. Once significant progress is made in healing, strength training is initiated to regain stability and reduce the chances of re-injury. Generally, an athlete will want to return to playing as quickly as possible, and our sports physiotherapists will work with you to regain the strength needed before you return to active practice or competition. The training and strength building are sport specific, allowing the player to be fully prepared to participate again, as soon as possible.
Training
Physical therapy involves training that will focus on your entire body. Improving muscle strength, endurance training, improving blood circulation, agility and mobility training, and pain control is all part of physical therapy. The physical therapist work to improve overall body functioning, returning the athlete to his or her peak physical condition.
Confidence Building
Physical therapy just doesn’t stop at training. Both the physiological and psychological aspects of an athlete’s condition are its focus. Physical therapy involves having an acute understanding of sports psychology. Visualization, stress busting exercises, mental endurance training, and resilience building are all functions of our mind that can be strengthened. Physical therapists know that the right mental state leads to better overall performance in competitive sports.
Prevention
Physical therapy can be proactively utilized for injury prevention or minimization. Most athletes get injured first and worry about it later. This mindset can later be a source of regret if the athlete sustains permanent damage. Physical therapy helps improve balance, posture and technique while playing. This plays an important role in fall prevention and avoiding muscle strains, during a game. Proper stretching and warm up exercises also reduce risk of injury.
Nutrition
Diet is an important factor that affects the athlete’s recovery cycle. Nutritional imbalance, after sustaining injury can slow the healing process. Striking the right nutritional balance and including it in the training regimen is part of physical therapy. Although physical therapists may not handle this aspect directly they can recommend professionals in this field.
Education
This stage involves in making the athlete aware about how to perform better with correct techniques. In this last stage, our physiotherapists focus on educating the athlete about the importance of right posture, rest and exercises. They not only aim to mentally prepare the athlete to perform as soon as possible but also coach him or her on how to stay fit by adopting more healthier options.
In home physical therapy in Edmonton, are a diverse bunch of professionals, who specialize in physical therapy, rehabilitation of injury, massage therapy, physiotherapy, and athletic therapy. They provide mobile athletic therapy sessions to athletes in Edmonton. Their professional therapists monitor the athlete’s progress on the road to recovery. They improvise their methods to create the optimum environment for an athlete to improve his or her condition.
