With the rugby season well under way and a significant trial lined up for this season designed to make the game safer by lowering the height of a legal tackle*, we thought now would be a good time to cover dealing with injuries on the field. We work with many athletes enabling them to a speedy recovery from the likes of muscle tears, ligament and joint sprains, most commonly found in Rugby.
At Sanderstead Physiotherapy we have over 20 years of expertise at the practice and our owner Chris has previously worked alongside many local rugby clubs in the Croydon area. We cover a range of different injuries and recovery routes for each including:
Sports injury’s Joint Problems
Muscle tears/strainsFrozen Shoulder
Ligament and tendon sprains/strainsArthritis
Joint sprainsOveruse injuries
‘Shin Splints’Overuse injuries
Tennis/golfers elbowCarpal tunnel pains
Dead leg/bruisingGrowing pains
Alongside these injuries, our practice also offers physiotherapy for back pain and whiplash.
Understandably no athlete wants to be hindered by injury during main season, and so we’ve put together a few tips on lowering the likelihood of strains or tears in the upcoming winter season;
Recent research has identified a specific rugby warm up, which has been proven to reduce both injuries and concussion in rugby. Termed the “Activate” warm up, it is a series of exercises that prepare players for the specific stresses involved in rugby, including proprioceptive, strength and flexibility exercises, You can access the England RFU information here. The Scottish RFU also shows the phases of exercises involved which you can view here.
In addition:
- Warm up before all matches and all training sessions – although you may think you’re warm, it actually takes a lot longer to make sure your muscles are ready for action. Take the time out to ensure you will be ready for the type of exertion you’re going to go through, even if you’re running slightly late.
- Make sure to warm down after training sessions. The most important part of training is recovery, if you don’t let your muscles stretch and recover after a hard session, they’re going to be less forgiving when it comes to the next practice and you might regret it!
- Regularly stretch outside of sessions in your spare time. Everybody knows that muscular injuries come from being inflexible, so why not improve your flexibility. Five minutes of stretching every day can give significant rewards.
Quite often rugby players try and ignore pain from an injury but in the long term it is best to seek advice if you have a chronic rugby injury. If you are concerned about a niggling pain, then get in touch today on 0208 657 5700.
Sources: *https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-45334820
