Prehabilitation for Sports Related Injuries

How to Prevent Sports Injury Through Prehabilitation Services

It is known that exercising enhances both physical and mental health, but the real question is – when do its effects actually start making a change in your body? The answer is a quite relieving and studies have shown that as little as one carefully planned and dosed training session can significantly reduce the risk of a heart attack! That is, if you remain consistent and attend your workouts continuously.

Here at Evolve, we can give you the opportunity to prevent things like this from happening. Whether it’s a heart condition, or a common sports related injury like tears or muscle pulls, by conducting prehabilitation exercises you can lessen your chances of an injury. Better safe than sorry, believe me!

Why would you need prehab?

Unlike rehabilitation which represents physical therapy after a certain injury or operation, prehab consists of well-structured and supervised exercises that ameliorate the outcome of a surgery, or lower the risk of training accidents of players on the field. That kind of preparation can be beneficial to your recovery, whatever situation you’re in. Leave your excuses at home, because here at Evolve physical therapy in Brooklyn, we can give you a variety of choices for you to better the odds when it comes to your health.

The Benefits of Prehab Exercises

Physical therapy prior to intense exercise or any other medical procedure can be a crucial step in preventing injuries. I always say that in order for a professional athlete to endure the enormous stress they put on their body daily, they primarily need to be functional and have a healthy postural status. Same goes for everyone else, even if they aren’t in that kind of situation. Whether you need surgery, or you just want to participate for your overall well-being. I myself, along with my team of highly experienced physical therapists here at Evolve, can guide you through a wide range of exercises that will help you prevent accidents such as:

Prehab for Knee Injuries

Injuries of the knee joint are one of the most common among professional athletes, and in many cases very dangerous because they can easily end their career. However, they can happen to anyone, even if they don’t play a professional sport. At Evolve we like to do things strategically and that means approaching the issue from every possible angle, in order to prevent these knee injuries. Our primary goal is to strengthen the muscles surrounding the knee, meaning every one that produces knee flexion and extension - mainly quadriceps and biceps femoris muscle, along with other muscles that contribute to overall stability of the joint. The goal is that after you go through our treatment you will be able to easily perform every movement in the knee. We want to make sure that your full range of motion has been restored, and that it remains stable throughout every activity.

Prehabilitation for Cycling Injuries

Prehabilitation is a fantastic method for preventing injury while cycling. Cycling is a beautiful sport, and I personally love it very much. However, there is one thing we should all have in mind when we think of going cycling - it is a highly repetitive sport. In order for us to be able to keep pedaling on and on, we have to engage in this sort of activity well prepared. That means strengthening and conditioning muscles that stabilize joints and take all the impact of those high repetitions. Mainly we mean your hips, knees, and wrists. Not only do they need good support, but you must also be aware of all the other complications that can occur because of an uncomfortable, non-physiological position when sitting on a bike. Our team can conduct different training and physiotherapy sessions that will prevent pain in your cervical and thoracic spine, prevent injuries of ligaments surrounding lower extremity joints, and most importantly to help you be able to enjoy cycling as long as possible without feeling any discomforts!

Shoulder pain, Muscle Tears, Pulls and Other Sports Related Injuries

Shoulder injuries are one of the most common ones in sports that mainly require usage of the arms, such as basketball or baseball. Basketball players often have problems with shoulder pain when lifting arms above their head, and why wouldn’t they feel pain when this puts the shoulder joint in a very non-anatomic position? On the other hand, baseball players need to have strong enough posterior muscles of the shoulder joints, in order to avoid tearing of ligaments, glenoid labrum, and more. Besides these, all the other sports carry their risks, but let’s stick to most common cases.

If you feel pain, or if you suffered a muscle tear in the past, you shouldn’t let it happen to you again. There are ways we can help you ensure that you don’t. By performing functional movement patterns as an element of carefully planned and supervised physical therapy, you can achieve the proper posture, stability and overall functionality. Whether we talk about shoulder prehab exercises, or exercises that give you stability and strength in every other critical joint. Undergoing prehabilitation therapy like we offer here at Evolve might just be the missing element for you to have complete enjoyment when participating in sports activities.

What are the main goals of prehabilitation?

Sometimes the external forces that affect our body in various physical activities can be inevitable and dominant, and there is just nothing we can do to stop an injury from happening. This is very common with contact sports. However, I think that in many cases we alone are most responsible for our injuries. All too often we engage in activities while being inadequately prepared!

When I say inadequately, I mean we usually skip the warm up. In my opinion, this is a terrible decision. A moderate warm up will increase the blood flow through our muscles and make them more flexible, decreasing the risk of an injury. Simply put, a 10-minute

Investment of your time can save you weeks of taking painkillers!

Your muscles need to be well conditioned for every specific type of sport. If you jog every morning and then suddenly you decide you want to play football, you will have a major risk of hurting yourself. Every sport has its demands, and if you doubt your strength or overall stability that’s needed for it, undergoing prehab won’t bring you any harm.

Last but not least, you can always give your muscles a nice good stretch whenever you can. Whether you just finished working out, or right before you hit the pillow. Remember, everything you do to contribute to your overall well-being makes you maybe one step ahead of an unpleasant surprise. If you would like to learn more about our prehab services, feel free to give our team a call today.

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!