Continuing with the theme of our latest blogs on tips and helpful ideas to avoid common problems, today we will look at an issue that I get asked about a lot as a physiotherapist by anyone who does a lot of sport:

How can I avoid getting injured?

Well, the honest answer is that if you do a sport for long enough you can't avoid injuries! The end - thank you for reading! Now, that would make an extremely short and boring blog post so we shall look into things in a bit more depth. It may be the truth that you can't avoid all injuries but you can certainly manage the injuries that you do get in such a way that they have as little impact as possible upon your performance. So, below are my top tips for minimising the impact that injuries are likely to have on your sporting performance.

1. If you feel pain stop!

Seems obvious eh? Well in my experience a large proportion of the patients with sporting injuries that I see will have done exactly the opposite to this! Anyone who has been looking forward to an evening's sporting activity or a race will understand exactly how hard it is to stop when you feel pain.

The general temptation is to just push on through in the hope that "it will go away"!!! Believe me bitter experience has taught me that if I feel a sharp pain or sensation that doesn't feel right in my body I need to stop, go away rest for a few days and try again later in the week. This way I won't be off for months. Now, this doesn't mean that every time you feel a slight twinge or grumble you need to stop immediately. Some grumbles or twinges are likely to be normal for you and experience and listening to your body will help you know when something isn't right.

2. Avoid stopping for weeks/months at a time

Sometimes people will rest completely from their sport for weeks or even months and will find that when they go back to doing their sport they are still getting pain. This is extremely frustrating for them and is very prevalent in the world of rock climbing. This way of thinking takes no account of the fact that if you have some injured tissues e.g. a ligament or tendon then you need to exercise them to encourage them to repair and strengthen. So, my general advice is that you should attempt to get back to your sport as soon as possible but at a lower and easier level and build back up.

3. See a physiotherapist

If neither of the above options are working for you, then go and see a physio as soon as you can. It will almost certainly be money well invested and will give you a better idea of what is going on and how you should be managing your injury.

Now, I know some people reading this will be aghast that I haven't mentioned things like warming up thoroughly, warming down, stretching, training your antagonists, RICE and the pros/cons of anti-inflammatories. Well, in my opinion none of those are anywhere near as important as the two basic strategies above of stopping early when in pain but also returning to sport early. Certainly my experience would suggest that most patients I see would hardly ever need a physio if they did the first two.

I hope that you have enjoyed reading this blog post. For anyone reading this blog who hasn't come across our site before: we are a home visit physiotherapy service, based in Lichfield but serving anywhere within a 25 minute drive including areas such as Sutton Coldfield, Tamworth, Cannock, Burton and Rugeley. We offer a wide range of services including paediatric physiotherapy, post-operative rehabilitation, neurological physiotherapy and neck and back pain relief. If you need further information or would like to book an appointment we can be contacted on 0788 428 1623 or via enquiries@threespiresphysiotherapy.co.uk