Transcript Basics of Injury Rehabilitation

Basics of Injury
Rehabilitation
Chapter 12
Philosophy of Athletic Injury
Rehabilitation
 The athletic trainer is responsible for designing,
implementing and supervising the rehabilitation of
an injured athlete
 Because of the competitive nature of athletics the
rehabilitation program should be more aggressive
than what you would normally do for a non-athlete
 The goal of rehabilitation is to return the athlete to
activity as soon and as safely as possible
 Athletes should never be pushed to return to
competition too soon but should be pushed to
work harder at their rehabiltation program as
strength and endurance increase.
Goals of Rehabilitation Programs
 Short Term Goals: goals which can be attained
quickly.
 1. Provide correct immediate first aid and
management following the injury to limit/control
swelling
 2. Reduce/minimize pain
 3. Restore full range of motion
 4. Increase muscular strength, endurance and power
 5. Re-establish neuromuscular coordination
 6. Improve balance
 7. Maintain cardiorespiratory fitness
 8. Incorporate appropriate functional progressions
Goals of Rehabilitation Programs
 The long term goal will be to get the
athlete back to safe
competition/practice quickly
1. Providing correct first aid and
controlling swelling
 Initial first aid is the MOST CRITICAL
component to a good rehabilitation
program.
 How the injury is managed initially
will have a great impact on the way
the injury heals
 Apply the RICE principle to control
swelling which will aid in quicker
rehabilitation.
2. Controlling Pain
 Extent of pain is determined by:
 Severity of injury
 Athletes response to pain
 Circumstances in which the injury occured
 Use of RICE immediately will aid in
decreasing pain
 Use of the appropriate therapeutic
modality can also aid in decreasing the
pain quickly.
3. Restoring Range of Motion
 Injury to a joint will always result in some degree
of loss of range of motion and it is important to
regain this loss quickly to move your athlete
through the rehabilitation process quickly.
 Begin by implementing stretching techniques
 You may have to implement other modalities or
techniques to regain ROM if the loss is due to:
 Contracture of the ligament or capsule
 Resistance of the muscle and its tendon to stretch
 Combination of both
4. Restoring muscular strength,
endurance and power
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Restoring the strength of the muscle is critical to getting the athlete
back to their pre-injury condition.
There are 4 major components that can be used in your rehabilitation
programs:
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Isometric exercise
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Progressive resistance exercise (PRE)
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Most common type of rehabilitative exercise and can be done using
weights, tubing, & weight machines.
PRE uses isotonic contractions to gain strength
Isokinetic exercise
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Mostly used in the beginning stages of rehab
Useful in cases where moving the joint through full range of motion may
be contraindicated
Increases static strength and decreasing atrophy
Commonly used in the later phases of rehabilitation
Requires expensive machines to provide consistant resistance through full
range of motion
PLyometric exercise
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Most often used in the later stages of rehabilitation to regain the quick
stretch contraction of the muscle
Also helpful in developing dynamic strength
5. Regaining Balance
 Balance and postural stability are key in
athletic performance so must be worked
on in order to regain their athletic skill.
 A lot of times the athlete will not have
worked on basic balance and postural
stability exercises which are specific to
certain areas so they will have to be
taught and re-emphasized throughout
the rehabilitation process.
6. Maintaining Cardiorespiratory
fitness
 This is the most basic but most neglected part of
the rehabiliation process!
 It is critical that you keep the athlete doing
some type of cardiovascular exercise to maintain
the function of their heart and lungs for
athletics.
 The exercises they do will begin out simple and
become more complex or at a higher intensity as
the affected joint can tolerate the specific
movement. For example if it is an athlete with
an ankle sprain you will begin by having them
work on the bike then progress to the eliptical
and then work on running on the treadmill.
7. Functional Progression
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It is EXTREMELY important to have your athlete progress in a quick
manner but also in a functional manner so that they are regaining
strength along with a certain athletic skill required within their sport.
The functional progression activities are designed to prepare the
athlete to return to activity.
The skill of the sport will be broken down into simpler components
and then gradually re-learned and put back together
This phase of rehabilitation requires constant monitoring of the
athlete so that you can catch and re-educate any mistakes they may
be making which will eventually lead to further injury if they are not
trained correctly!
A good way of knowing when to progress is by asking the athlete
how the activity felt during and then the next day finding out if there
was any pain or discomfort or any swelling. If pain and discomfort
occur during the activity stop and back down a bit. If pain and
discomfort occur the next day then slow the activity down or break it
down further but still complete all components of it. If swelling
occurs then go back to the last activity they could perform without
swelling.
Your Task!
 Now that you know the goals and
phases of rehabilitation complete
critical thinking questions #1-3 in
your book (chapter 12) Turn in to me
when you are finished!