Return to sport in boston
Dr. Maddy Hanrahan takes to the blog today to discuss what return to sport looks like at The Method - Boston Physical Therapy.
After rehabilitating an injury the last thing you want to do is get re-injured. All the hard work and physical therapy appointments only to find yourself back at square one. One of the most often questions we, as physical therapists get asked is “how likely is this to happen again”?
The reality is that re-injury is not as unlikely as we would like to assume.
Up to 1 in 5 people will re-tear their ACL (with men being more likely to suffer re-injury). And even if you haven’t had surgery the risk is not zero, with the current research stating up to 2/3rds of people who have recently dealt with low back pain or a back injury are likely to experience a recurrence of pain or injury within 12 months of recovery.
These numbers are high.
However, at The METHOD we can help you mitigate these risks by using different tests and measures that have been validated by research in the medical community to decrease your risk of re-injury. The current research suggests that by successfully completing return to sport/activity testing can help an athlete decrease their risk of reinjury by as much as 84%.
But what does return to sport testing look like? And the answer is simple… it depends! It depends on what your injury is, what you are looking to return to and what your deficits are. At The METHOD we can help determine what are the best tests and measures to assess your readiness to return to running, cycling, triathlons, group fitness classes or competitive sports.
Some options may include:
Strength testing - before you run or jump or throw you have to walk, lift and carry without pain. We need to first assess your strength to make sure that your baseline strength is at an appropriate level for the activities you want to get back to do, but also that it is symmetrical to your uninvolved side of the body.
Functional movement assessments - once we know that you have the strength needed for your activities we need to make sure that the body knows how to apply that strength. We need to make sure that you have endurance and are avoiding compensatory patterns that would potentially predispose you to re-injury or other injuries
Hop testing - this is a series of tests that we put athletes through to ensure that they can complete a series of a different hopping maneuvers on a single leg to mimic explosive motion in sports and athletic activities. Females are more prone to have asymmetries from side to side and less shock absorption, predisposing them to re-injury or longer term deficits from previous injuries like tendinitis or arthritis. By comparing hopping on either leg we will be able to identify and then help you work towards eliminating any compensating movement patterns or asymmetries.
VALD Force Plates - with all of these tests it is so important and crucial to have objective data to compare and track over time. The VALD force plates, that we have access to in our Boston South End and Charlestown clinics, help us put numbers to any asymmetries or deficits we may observe in the clinic. This piece of equipment helps us determine if you are pushing off more on one foot versus the other or how quickly you can generate or absorb power. All of these data points help us make a decision with you on how to best progress at any stage of recovery
While we know that returning to activity and sport is not always a linear process, these tools, that we have readily available, are crucial in helping us make safe and informed decisions to assist you in returning to what you love to do and to help keep you moving in healthy ways for years to come!
If you feel as though you’re stuck in a rut or not sure that you should be returning to your summer tennis match, beach volleyball or trail run, reach out and we can help develop a safe and effective plan to get you back to what you love as efficiently and safely as possible - book a free 15 minute discovery call to learn how we can help!
