Sports Injury Centre
Australian’s have a love for the outdoors and their sports. While this
generally results in a healthier lifestyle, it also results in the occasional musculoskeletal injury. Common injuries include:
- Muscle strains
- Contusion injuries (“corks”)
- Ligament sprains
- Joint injuries
- Over-use injuries
There are a number of ways you can minimise the risk of sustaining injuries. These include:
- Perform warm-up and cool down exercises
- Learn correct technique for your sport, e.g. swimming stroke
- Use protective equipment specific to your sport, e.g. shin pads in soccer
- Wear braces or strapping
- Maintain good fitness, strength and flexibility
Remember, you should not play sport to get fit, you
should get fit to play sport
As physiotherapists, we specialise in sports injury management and rehabilitation, however there are a few simple steps you can perform to minimise your recovery time. The initial management of soft tissue injuries, i.e. the first 3 days, includes:
Do
Rest: minimise movement of the injured area
Ice: for 20 minutes every 2 hours
Compression: wrap injured area with an elastic bandage
Elevation: injured area to above the level of your heart
(These minimise swelling and bleeding)
Do not
Heat: including heat rubs, hot baths etc
Alcohol: of any kind
Running: or any unnecessary activity
Massage: not even a “light” rub