Sports Medicine Specialist

What is sports injury rehabilitation?

Sports injury rehab involves a combination of physical therapy, pain management, manual therapy such as massage, lifestyle considerations, education, and advice. This combined approach, which is known as physiotherapy, is intended to promote active, safe, efficient, and effective physical recovery from sports-related injuries.

The long-term goal of an effective sports injury rehab plan is to help athletes reach a level of mobility and functionality that allows them to return to their sport, continue to excel, and avoid future injury.

What are common neurological sports injuries?

While athletes commonly experience muscle and ligament tears as well as overuse injuries that cause joint and tendon pain, the physicians at The Neurology Group focus on injuries that affect the brain, spine, or nerves. Some of the most common sports-related neurological injuries include:

Concussion

Concussions are most commonly sustained on the sports field and in car accidents. When your brain shifts, bounces, or twists inside your skull, it creates chemical changes that lead to abnormal brain function. In some cases, a head injury may also stretch and damage your brain cells.

Many people think of a concussion as an injury that comes from a direct bump, hit, or blow to the head. Although a knock to your head can easily result in a concussion, anything that causes the rapid back-and-forth movement of your brain inside your skull can give you a concussion.

Whiplash

This painful injury occurs when your head is forcefully thrown back and forth, causing the quick and uncontrollable movement of your neck. It often causes trauma to the discs, ligaments, muscles, and nerves in your neck.

A tingling sensation in your arms, or pain that radiates through your shoulders, upper back, and arms, are signs that a whiplash injury has compressed a nerve.  

Spine injuries

Athletes who play contact sports like football and lacrosse are more likely to be affected by spinal injuries, including spinal misalignment and nerve impingement.

Any movement that pushes, pulls, or causes direct trauma to your spine may also lead to a herniated spinal disc. A herniated disc in your lower back typically causes pain that radiates down into one of your legs, which may be accompanied by numbness or tingling.   

How does movement play a role in recovery?

Sports medicine introduces movement as soon as possible, because early movement is key to quick and effective recovery. That’s because inflammation that’s allowed to linger can create imbalances and instability around the injury. Movement decreases inflammation and restores range of motion, which helps retrain muscular firing patterns and ultimately restores strength.