LONG-TERM INJURY REHABILTATION PROGRAM

With time, it is true that most sports injuries will settle and heal. However the body is not very good at restoring an injured area back to ‘normal’ particularly getting back full strength & power. This often means that other issues occur or worse still, you reinjure the same thing. The purpose of injury rehabilitation is to not only speed up the recovery process, but also ensure that all aspects of the injured area return back to ‘normal’. Or better still, stronger and more resilient than before the injury.

Sports injury rehabilitation can be broken down into 6 key steps or stages. Tissue Repair - This is when we need to protect the injured tissue and make sure it heals optimally. Reloading - returning to normal functional movement patterns with the restoration of full range of motion and function. Rebuilding - in this step we look to build the injured area back up in strength & power . Returning to Run Return to Training - guided staged return to training or sport and fitness activities starting with controlled skills, progressing to full sports training. Return to Sport - Full functional recovery, returning fully to participate in sport or unrestricted fitness activities. Resilience & Injury Prevention - the ongoing injury prevention training to make sure you maintain your strength and continue to be resilient to sporting injury.

Sports Physiotherapists are specialists in sports injury management. This includes the diagnosis of the injury and the best management and rehabilitation plan to get you back to doing what you love. Sports Physiotherapists do everything from hands-on on treatment (massage, joint mobilisations & dry needling) to gym and field based exercise programming and coaching. The team of sports physiotherapists are specialists in sport injury management and rehabilitation and we are designed to provide you with everything you need to recover from your sports injury with the best possible outcome.

Elite athletes have access to all of the resources they need to recover, which is why they get back quickly and are able to return to sport competing at such a high level. This includes: Seeing their sports physiotherapist often - regular treatment and ‘touch-points’ to check in progress and monitor them A detailed rehabilitation plan that minimises their deconditioning, is sports specific and is targeted to fixing the injury. Access to coaching and support - they complete their rehab with their physio and team, surrounded and supported. Access to all of the rehabilitation machines and technology to assist them in their recovery (e.g. Blood Flow Restriction (BFR), Compex, GameReady). Our long-term rehabilitation program is modelled off this, designed to give you access to these same resources to ensure you can also access this when you are rehabilitating your sports injury.

Understanding what you have injured (aka getting an accurate diagnosis of your injury) and being provided with an injury rehabilitation plan is vital to your recovery. Injury rehabilitation can be a long process (12 months for ACL injuries). It is a difficult journey to do on your own, so it is really important to find sport and rehabilitation professionals to help guide your recovery. This is the best path to optimal short and long-term outcomes following a sports injury.