Sports Physical Therapy- Common Sports Injuries

Sports Physical Therapy and Sports Rehabilitation for Popular Sporting Injuries

As an athlete, it is important that you can get back on the field as soon as possible after an injury. Here at Evolve, my team and I specialize in many sports physical therapy and rehabilitation services. Below we’ve highlighted a few of the ways that we can assist you during your recovery.

Sports Physical Therapy Services

We offer a few different specialty services to help you recover from your sporting injuries. Below are a few examples:

Prehabilitation: I’ve seen the benefits of prehabilitation exercises for athletes. While it was previously primarily beneficial prior to having surgery, over the years it has developed into a popular functional fitness and injury prevention technique.

Manual Therapy: My team and I can use manual therapy as a hands-on method to target the weak muscles in and around your injury to reduce pain, and promote better mobility.

Deep Tissue Massage: As an athlete, you put a ton of stress on your body during training and games. My team and I can provide a deep tissue massage to reduce pain and promote healing.

Running & Gait Training: As an athlete, having proper form while running is extremely important. My team and I can help you to improve your function and enhance your performance.

Common Sports Injuries

If you are an athlete, or simply an avid sports player, chances are you may get injured. Here are a few of the most common sporting injuries that we see come through our doors here at Evolve.

Football Injuries and How to Treat Them

As a full contact sport, injuries are very common for football players. Whether you have over exerted yourself at practice or you take a hard tackle, a lot of these injuries requires physical therapy services. At Evolve, my team and I can help you develop a treatment plan to get you back into your best shape if you are suffering from any of the following injuries.

Knee Injuries: Knee injuries are very common in the football world. As a football player, having a knee injury can land you off the field for a long time. My team and I want to help you heal from your injuries faster. By utilizing our knee physical therapy services, we can help you with exercises that promote recovery, balance, and holistic healing.

Shoulder Injuries: Another popular injury among football players is shoulder injuries. These can include labrum and joint injuries. Our team can address any muscle tears and we can help you to restore shoulder function and mobility through our physical therapy services for shoulder injuries.

Overuse Injuries: Back pain is a frequent complaint from football players. If you are experiencing back pain this may be a sign of overuse from intense training. The kind of pain caused by overuse can be targeted by icing or with stretching and physical therapy exercises.

Basketball Injuries and Treatment Methods

While basketball isn’t a full contact sport, it is skill likely that at some point you may have an injury. The Evolve team and I can help you recover from the following injuries through our sports physical therapy services.

Ankle Injuries: Injured ankles are very popular among basketball players. It is essential to play this sport that you fully recover from any ankle injury. A few of the frequent ankle injuries that we see are dislocations, fractures, sprains, tendonitis, or post-surgical recovery. With years of experience in the field, my team and I can help you recover from ankle injuries by using specialized sports ankle physical therapy methods.

Knee Injuries: Some of the most common knee injuries that we’ve seen from basketball players are ACL tears and MCL tears, fractures, and tendonitis. In more severe cases your injury may require surgery before you can start physical therapy. Our goal is to help you through a customized exercise and physical therapy treatment plan specific to your injuries. We want to see you regain the strength and mobility that you may have lost due to your sports injury.

Shoulder Injuries: Rotator cuff tears are one of the most common shoulder injuries. As a frequently used part of the body for basketball and activities related to daily living, you will want to recover from this injury as soon as possible. Let us help you start to find healing today.

Hand & Wrist Injuries: Injuries of the hand and wrist are also common with basketball players. If you’ve injured your hand or wrist you will be out of luck with basketball until the injury heals. Don’t spend unnecessary time on the sidelines. While the duration of every treatment plan is different, both hand physical therapy and wrist physical therapy has been proven to increase recovery times.

Common Injuries and Their Treatment Plans for Baseball Players

Baseball is a sport that sees its fair share of injuries as well. If you are a professional player or are a frequent player in pickup games, you may find that the stress put on your body can eventually result in injury. Below are some of the most common baseball injuries that my team and I can help you with our specialized physical therapy for baseball players here at Evolve.

Rotator Cuff Injuries: The overall goal for physical therapy with a rotator cuff injury is to improve the function of each muscle that surrounds your shoulder. By building and strengthening these muscles you will find that you can increase mobility.

Tennis Elbow: Tennis elbow happens when the muscles around your elbow have been overused. It can cause pain and inflammation. By using sports physical therapy exercises you can start to reduce any pain and inflammation that has occurred.

ACL Injuries: If your ACL has been damaged due to an injury our team can help. A physical therapy treatment plan for a torn ACL may include, gait training, strengthening exercise, range of motion exercises, balance exercises and more.

Wrist & Hand Injuries: As a baseball player, full wrist and hand function is imperative. Here at Evolve, we can help you with strengthening and range of motion exercises to start helping you heal from wrist and hand injuries.

Treating Soccer Injuries with Physical Therapy

Soccer is another sport that includes likely chances of injury due to the speed and nature of the sport. If you have been injured during a game or have noticed pain after a grueling practice, we are here to help. Below are some examples of the frequently seen injuries of those who participate in this sport.

Ankle & Hamstring Strains: My team and I can help you with pain management for ankle and hamstring strains by teaching you exercises that can help you regain your normal range of motion. Our team can help you get back in the game faster and in your best shape yet.

Overuse Injuries: An overuse injury is also a common one for soccer players. By utilizing prehab exercises, you can help to prevent these kinds of injuries from occurring.

Soft Tissue Injuries: A soft tissue injury can occur when an excessive force is put on your soft tissues. To recover from a soft tissue injury, we can assist you with manual therapy, range of motion exercises, and more to help you fully recover and get back to the game you love.

Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation Services with Evolve

Do you have a sports injury that is keeping you from being able to return to the sport you love? Here at Evolve, my team and I want to see you make a full recovery. Reach out to us today to learn more about our physical therapy and rehabilitation services for sporting injuries. You can schedule your first consultation free of charge. We look forward to hearing from you!

What is the Rotator Cuff and What Does It Do?

 By Nick Mazzone, PT, DPT, CSCS

What is the rotator cuff?

The rotator cuff is the name given to the group of 4 muscles that originate from different positions on the shoulder blade and connect to the humerus (upper arm). These muscles all work together to ensure stability of the shoulder joint during movement (dynamic stability). When isolated, each of these muscles acts on the humerus and moves the shoulder joint in different directions. These muscles are named supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres minor, and subscapularis.

Why do we need this dynamic stability?

As we move the arm, these rotator cuff muscles will contract together to help keep the humerus centered nicely inside the cup of the shoulder joint (think ball and socket). If there is an asymmetry in strength among these muscles, the positioning of the shoulder inside the socket may be altered while you move your arm. Over time, this can cause irritation of other tendons, ligaments, and bone in the shoulder region. Some of the common diagnoses associated with rotator cuff muscle weakness are shoulder impingement syndrome and non-traumatic rotator cuff tears.

What happens if the rotator cuff is torn?

The most commonly torn rotator cuff muscle is the supraspinatus. People with supraspinatus tears typically have trouble elevating the arm and may exhibit a compensatory shrugging of the shoulder in order to assist in raising the arm.

If a partial tear is present, the muscle and tendon have the ability to heal without surgical intervention. In order for proper healing to occur, we must provide an ideal environment for the muscle and tendon to recover. This would include intervention aimed at decompressing the region where the muscle attaches to the humerus, which would be achieved through range of motion exercise and strengthening of all 4 rotator cuff muscles to help produce more efficient movement of the shoulder (to put it briefly).

If a complete tear is present, there are two options that one may follow. The non-surgical route would include strengthening other muscles around the shoulder joint that will help to compensate and act as a substitute for the torn rotator cuff muscle. Fortunately, the shoulder joint was designed to be able to withstand this type of injury and with the right rehab protocol, may return to normal functioning. In cases where this method does not help, surgical intervention is typically indicated. After surgery, patients will be sent to a physical therapist in order to help them return to their prior level of functioning.

What does physical therapy typically consist of for rotator cuff injuries?

The plan of care will consist of manual stretching and soft tissue mobilization of tense muscles, specific strength and stability exercise to improve the function of the shoulder, range of motion exercises to help normalize joint movement, and movement re-education to ensure pain-free use of the arm.

Click here to find out more information about physical therapy for rotator cuff injuries

Check out this brief video for 3 exercises that will strengthen the rotator cuff muscles:

Nick Mazzone received his Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Stony Brook University. He has a strong background in strength and conditioning and aims to bridge the gap between strength training and physical therapy. Nick believes that a lifestyle centered around physical fitness and mental well-being are vital to one’s successes and happiness. For this reason, he educates his patients on pain science and helps empower them and motivate them to reach their goals every day. You can find him at Evolve Physical Therapy in Mill Basin, Brooklyn. To view some of his other content, visit drnickmazzonedpt.wordpress.com.

Resources

Photo depicting widespread shoulder pain (top photo) retrieved from https://www.myanthemhealth.com/blog/shoulder-paincould-it-be-my-rotator-cuff

Photo depicting different muscles of the rotator cuff retrieved from https://www.slideshare.net/prkhuman/shoulder-impingement-syndrome-24685952

Photo depicting a rotator cuff tear retrieved from https://www.vivehealth.com/blogs/resources/rotator-cuff-tear

Photo depicting the compensatory shoulder shrug during shoulder elevation retrieved from https://healtheappointments.com/chapter-16-the-musculoskeletal-system-essays/5/