Month: May 2021

Women’s NRL National Championship

Last weekend in Redcliff, Queensland, Matt provided his expertise working with the Victorian Under 19s and Open team at the Women’s NRL National Championship.

The tournament was a fantastic opportunity for the best of Victoria’s talented ladies to compete against the Australia’s best players, including the perennially strong rugby league states of Queensland and New South Wales.

The women put in a tremendous effort playing 4 games across the 4 days with a lot of tape used as a preventative measure on knees and ankles, concussion the most common injury amongst a thankfully small injury list. For Matt, a physiotherapist who has predominantly worked in the male elite sport system, this experience afforded a great insight into top level competition and Women’s Rugby.

Matt looks forward to seeing the continued improvement in the game in Victoria while seeing the sport grow with more women given the chance to represent their state at National level. 

Injury prevention in community sport

Jump and land

Injury prevention in community sport.

Given return to competition in 2021 after a year without the majority of community sporting competitions in 2020, incidence of injuries to all parts of the lower limbs are unfortunately more likely than ever before.

Injury to the knee, hamstring and ankle can be debilitating due to the enormous number of varied forces that are put through the lower limb while weight bearing through the joints required for all upright locomotion.

Injuries to these areas account for the biggest lost time injuries in the AFL as well as most twist and turn sports played in Australia and around the world.

Traumatic knee injuries caused by impact, twist and turn mechanisms while working or playing sport include ligament and cartilage injuries. Sports such as football, netball, rugby, lacrosse and hockey are sports that tends to have a high incidence of ACL and other ligament injuries. Cartilage can also be impacted through excessive use and awkward positions under load.

Patellofemoral joint pain (PFJ) tends to cause significant pain particularly with deep knee flexion positions such as landing to getting up from the ground.

The Footy First training program has been developed considering the latest and best recent scientific evidence by the AFL, in conjunction with Monash University and Griffith University, the Victorian and NSW governments and Sports Medicine Australia, as an injury prevention program designed to prevent, at the least reduce, the prevalence of leg injuries in community Australian Football is a fantastic resource available to everyone as free PDF document via: http://www.aflcommunityclub.com.au/fileadmin/user_upload/Coach_AFL/Become_a_Coach/Accreditation/FootyFirst_-_Manual.pdf

The program includes ideas for the most appropriate warm up regimes, progressions as players become more proficient at each exercise or dynamic stretch as well as being formulated considering the exact movement patterns required for safe completion of a sport with such high demands as Australian rules football.

By implementation of programs such as the footy first program at all levels of community sport, we can cost effectively do our bit in preventing lost time injuries and the associated heartache of missing games. Let’s make the 2021 the best season in memory by keeping as many players as possible available for every game.

If you’d like more specific injury information, click here to return to our home page https://physioplus.com.au/ to read more about any injury that you may be suffering or to book an appointment with one of their fantastic team today.

Solving the shoulder

Shoulder

Solving the shoulder.

Shoulder pain and injuries are very common. Your shoulder is the most mobile joint in your
body. The reason for this abundance of movement is due to the tiny shoulder contact zone, with
the glenoid fossa (shoulder socket) covering only a quarter of the humeral head (ball). This
makes the joint quite unstable which is why your shoulder muscles are so important to a
normally functioning shoulder to help stabilise the shoulder joint.

Common conditions of the shoulder include:
– Rotator cuff tendinopathy or tears
– Bursitis
– Shoulder dislocation (instability)
– Adhesive capsulitis (frozen shoulder)
– Shoulder arthritis
– Fractures

Rotator cuff pathology
– The rotator cuff is a small group of four muscles that move and control your shoulder
joint. Individuals with a rotator cuff injury will often have a painful arc, pain with overhead
activities, lifting, reaching behind the back, sleeping on the affected side and pain at
night.

Shoulder bursitis
– Shoulder bursitis is due to an inflamed shoulder bursa. The bursa is a fluid-filled sac that
is used as a cushion between tendon-bone and tendon-tendon to reduce the friction and
irritation between them as they move. There are several bursae in your shoulders and
inflammation of this bursa typically results in pain on the outside of your shoulder, pain
with overhead lifting or reaching activities, increased pain at night and pain may spread
down your arm towards the elbow or wrist.

GH instability
– Refers to the inability to maintain the ball of the upper arm bone in its normal position in
the shoulder socket. A dislocated shoulder is where the ball of the upper arm bone is
forced fully out of position which is usually associated with extreme pain and the inability
to move your arm until it is placed back in the socket. Shoulder subluxation is a partial
shoulder dislocation when the shoulder joint comes out partially before relocating itself.
Symptoms of shoulder instability may include repeated instances of the shoulder giving
out, a persistent sensation of the shoulder feeling loose, or “slipping in and out” of the
joint, or apprehension to put your shoulder in certain positions.

Adhesive capsulitis (frozen shoulder)
– Frozen shoulder is a gradual onset of pain and stiffness due to shoulder capsule
inflammation and fibrotic adhesions that limit your shoulder movement. Frozen shoulder
will usually have an insidious onset with a progressive increase in pain initially and later
a gradual decrease in active and passive glenohumeral joint range of motion. It is more
prevalent in women and commonly occurs in individuals 40-60 years of age. Individuals
will often have difficulty grooming, performing overhead activities, sleeping, and
particularly fastening items behind the back.

Arthritis
– Shoulder arthritis is a common source of shoulder pain in older adults. Everyday wear
and tear damages your shoulder joint and the chances of arthritis are more likely if you
have injured or overused your shoulder joint. Exercise is a great way to reduce the
incidence of shoulder arthritis as well as help control arthritic pain, strengthen muscles
and improve your joint and muscle flexibility.

Fractures
– A fractured shoulder is most commonly a fractured humerus which is your upper arm
bone between your shoulder and elbow. The location of these fractures can impact your
treatment because of the bone attachment of your essential shoulder muscles. Your
physiotherapist will be able to explain what you should and shouldn’t do if you have a
fracture in a particular region where there is a muscular attachment.

If you would like more information about different shoulder injuries or you are currently
struggling with shoulder pain, feel free to make a booking today

Shoulder rotation

Eliza with patient assessing shoulder range of movement

 

Written by Eliza Osborn who works from the Physio Plus Footscray clinic.