A sports injury is an injury, damage or complaint that occurs during the practice of a sport. Sports injuries can be broadly classified into two types: acute sports injuries and overuse injuries. Usually, an acute injury requires the cessation of sports activity. An overuse injury is characterized by the pain slowly building up.
If you have suffered a sports injury, please contact us to schedule an appointment with one of our physical therapists.
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Common sports injuries
As indicated above, sports injuries can be broadly classified into two types: acute sports injuries and overuse injuries.
An acute sports injury, as the word implies, occurs suddenly. As in twisting the knee, spraining the ankle or tearing a muscle (for example, whiplash or a tear in the hamstring). Usually, an acute injury requires the cessation of sports activity.
A sports injury caused by overuse is characterized by the pain building up slowly. Often the pain can be walked off in the beginning and the sports activity can be resumed as usual. But after some time, the complaints due to the sports injury increase during exertion and it is wiser to stop the sports activity. Usually, sports injuries due to overuse are tendon-related, such as the Achilles tendon or the patellar tendon, but it can also be bone-related as in a shin splint.
Sports injury treatment
Treatment of a sports injury starts during the first appointment with an intake. This involves identifying the cause of the problem and estimating the severity of the injury. A physical examination follows to test possible diagnoses and reach a conclusion.
It is possible that after this, in consultation with your family doctor, you will be referred for follow-up examination in the hospital to confirm or rule out serious injury. We will ensure that the correct information reaches your (family) physician so that you can be helped as best as possible.
Often when treating sports injuries, physical therapy can be helpful. After the intake and any follow-up examination, we will draw up a treatment plan to help you get back on your feet as soon as possible. As a rule, this will consist of increasing local load capacity (strengthening muscles), remedying movement restrictions (mobilizing joints) and optimizing movement patterns (strength and coordination training). This not only helps you get back to participating in your sport as quickly as possible, but also helps you prevent sports injuries in the future.
