Top 5 exercises to cut your risk of ACL injury in HALF this pre-season

Banish your risk of ACL injury this summer and smash your sporting goals

It’s a fact: no one wants to spend the summer pre-season laid up on the couch binge watching re-runs of Friends when you should be out training and performing better for the upcoming football, netball or another sporting season. Did you know that ACL injury is the NUMBER ONE cause of time spent on the sporting side-line? And that’s across ALL sports. That’s a pretty significant reason to spend some time bullet-proofing your ACLs. The great news is that you can cut your risk of suffering through extended couch-time by 50% with these 5 exercises.

At the Injury Rehab Centre our Physiotherapists and Osteopaths regularly work with those from the Cheltenham, Moorabbin, Mentone, Highett, Hampton, Black Rock, Beaumaris and Heatherton suburbs to not only rehabilitate athletes after knee injury, but also ensure any future injuries are minimised.

Which 5 exercises should you be doing right now?

The best ACL prevention programs are based on 3 key areas:

1. Plyometrics – how well your body moves and deals with the forces from running, jumping, landing, and quickly changing direction.

2. Neuromuscular training – teaching your body to optimally send nervous system signals to improve the force and speed of muscle contractions, to improve your balance, and develop correct movement patterns for the most efficient performance possible.

3. Strength training – improving your ability to produce and handle increased loads, leading to greater injury prevention and athletic development.

Drumroll…. Here they are!

1. Reach and tap

• 3 rounds, taping in all directions

2. Single leg deadlift

• Keep balancing knee fixed

• Back flat

3. Box drop with counter-movement jump

• 3 repetitions

• Absorb the landing

4. Drop and cut

• Stick the landings

• Bend through the hips, knees, ankles

5. Trap bar squat

• Drive through legs

• Keep back tight

• Slide shoulder blades down (as if into back pockets), and hold there

With these 5 exercises, each of the 3 key areas is addressed, ensuring your risk of ACL injury is drastically reduced, keeping you on track to smash the 2018 season.

Why the Injury Rehab Centre is the place for ACL rehabilitation

At the Injury Rehab Centre our Physiotherapists and Osteopaths focus on the assessment and collection of actionable data using the latest technology to determine and reduce your risk of ACL injury previously only found in elite sporting institutions.

This includes:

• M.A.T Assessment created by the therapists of the Injury Rehab Centre to laser focus on potential discrepancies or deficiencies of flexibility, balance and movement control that may predispose to ACL injury.

• Slow Motion Video Analysis of how you move, land, and change direction TO FIND BAD HABITS that may predispose to knee injury.

• Strength Testing to identify any strength discrepancies that have a huge effect on how well your muscles can protect your knee ligaments.

• Force Plate Technology to put a number on the differences between each leg in the power you can generate for sporting performance and protection from injury.

• Traditional Physiotherapy and Osteopathy examinations to identify any potential factors that may increase your risk of ACL injury

Next, our treatment process achieves pain relief in the shortest amount of time by using hands-on Physiotherapy and Osteopathy techniques such as soft tissue massage, joint manipulation, articulation and stretching techniques. This may include the use of the True Stretch system as well as Dry Needling and Taping techniques. Finally, your management plan will involve an individualised training plan to build your strength and capacity (muscle and tendon strength, stamina, specific flexibility) often to improve discrepancies from side to side that could be the true cause of potential knee injury.

For a limited time only, the Injury Rehab Centre is running a FREE initial consultation – no cost, no obligation – with one of our Physiotherapists or Osteopaths.

We know it’s risky if you have suffered a knee injury in making sure that you choose the right practitioner to look after your recovery. You don’t want to waste time, money and you want to get back to a full recovery as soon as possible. Our FREE initial consultation lets you decide if we are the right clinic for you and also lets us decide if we think we can help.

So don’t wait, get back to feeling better, moving better and performing better give us a call on 9553 7024 or book online at www.injuryrehab.com.au/bookings.

The 6 tick boxes to return to sport from ACL rehabilitation

Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injuries can be distressing for patients and its rehabilitation is one that needs to be taken seriously. We understand that it is a timely rehabilitation, but also understand that time is not the only factor that needs to be accounted for when dealing with an ACL injury. It has been reported that 81% of individuals with an ACL injury will return to any kind of sport. Only 65% will return to their pre-injury level and merely 55% return to competitive sport.

Re-injury rates for ACL vary between 6% to 25% thus making the decision for when it is appropriate to return to sport a decision that ultimately must be made with clearance from the orthopaedic surgeons, physiotherapists and osteopaths such as those at the Injury Rehab Centre in Cheltenham.

What are the criteria to return from ACL injury safely?

One study set out to explore an objective return to sport/discharge criteria and evaluate whether strength or functional tests were risk factors for ACL graft rupture. They examined 158 professional male athletes in Qatar and followed up with the individuals 6 months after their return to sport.

The discharge criteria examined were:

• Isokinetic Testing – Quadriceps Strength Deficit <10% at 60 Degrees/Second between legs

• Single Hop – Limb Symmetry Index (a measure to standardise test results with lower limb length) >90%

• Triple Hop – Limb Symmetry Index >90%

• Triple Crossover Hop – Limb Symmetry Index >90%

• On-Field Sports Specific Rehab

• Running Agility T – Test (ability to run and change direction over a set of cones in a T shape set 10 metres apart) – <11 seconds

Of the 158 athletes that participated:

• 116 (73%) fully discharged

• 42 (27%) did not achieve

Injury Occurrence

• 26 (16.5%) sustained graft rupture

  • 17 occurred within the first 6 months of return to sport

• 11 (7%) sustained opposite side rupture

Was there a difference in those that were fully discharged versus not?

YES!

• 12 out of 116 (10.3%) that were fully discharge sustained an ACL graft rupture

• 14 out of 42 (33.3%) that did not meet the 6 criteria sustained an ACL graft rupture

Take home messages:

• ACL re-rupture rates range from 6-25% and a high amount of individuals return to sport (81%)

• Not meeting all 6 variables examined by the study places you at a 4x greater risk of rupture

• For strength examined, every 10% decrease in hamstring to quad strength ratio there was a 10.6x greater risk of ACL rupture

  • DON’T NEGLECT THE HAMSTRINGS!!

At the Injury Rehab Centre we utilize a functional and objective measures to help mitigate your risk of injury before you return to sport. We utilize a variety of tools and combine some of the tests above with force plate technology to increase our understanding of your capability. If you’ve had an ACL injury recently or had a previous ACL injury, ensure that you are ready for your next upcoming season with the Injury Rehab Centre and book with a physiotherapist or osteopath now!

What we do at the Injury Rehab Centre

At the Injury Rehab Centre in Cheltenham we go above and beyond traditional Physiotherapy and Osteopathy clinics by using the latest assessment technology to perform tests as previously described to collect data on how you move to assess your risk of ACL injury or how your rehabilitation is progressing.

We utilise:

• M.A.T Assessment created by the therapists of the Injury Rehab Centre to laser focus on areas of flexibility, balance and movement that identify whether your are at risk to sustain an injury.

• Slow Motion Jumping and Running Video Analysis to IDENTIFY YOUR BAD LANDING AND CHANGING DIRECTION HABITS that maintain a risk of injury.

• Strength Testing to identify any strength discrepancies that have a huge role in increasing your injury risk.

• Force Plate Technology to put a number on differences in the power you can generate through each leg that can lead to compensations and can cause repetitive stress injuries and prevent return to full performance.

•  Traditional Physiotherapy and Osteopathy examinations to identify dysfunction.

Individual management plans can then be created using baseline data to track progression of a program to address movement deficiencies and discrepancies (muscle and tendon strength, stamina, specific flexibility) as well as increasing your movement skill to make you more efficient out on the road, track or trail to bullet proof your body from injury and increase performance.

The Injury Rehab Centre is currently seeking participants for research we will be conducting into the effectiveness of treatment and rehabilitation for ACL reconstruction patients.

As part of this research participants at the Injury Rehab Centre will receive a FREE M.A.T assessment in which detailed lower limb testing will be performed to identify deficiencies and discrepancies in lower limb function to calculate risk of injury.

If this sounds like you or someone you know go click here to register your interest in being part of this study and getting a FREE assessment today.

Reference:

Kyritsis P, Bahr R, Landreau P, et al Likelihood of ACL graft rupture: not meeting six clinical discharge criteria before return to sport is associated with a four times greater risk of rupture Br J Sports Med 2016;50:946-951.

How strength training will reduce pain and injury by 50%

At the Injury Rehab Centre our Physiotherapists and Osteopaths who service the Cheltenham, Moorabbin, Mentone, Highett, Hampton, Black Rock, Beaumaris and Heatherton suburbs have the philosophy that stronger people are harder to kill injure. That’s why a big part of our management for dealings with patient pain and injury often involves an active approach teaching our patients to become stronger and move more efficiently.

Exercise is good for us!

jogging

Most patients that our Physiotherapists and Osteopaths see understand that physical activity is beneficial for many common diseases and pathologies. It’s now commonly known through research that exercise helps with:

• Cardiovascular disease

• Diabetes

• Cancer

• Hypertension

• Obesity

• Depression

• Osteoporosis

How does injury occur?

So exercise is good for our body but what about pain and injury? Many of us engage in a variety of different activities and sports that all inherently put our body through stress and strain. We accept the risk of injury because we simply enjoy activity and the benefits outweigh the cons. But what happens when our body doesn’t have the capacity to tolerate the stress and strain that we put it through? Well, injury of course. Whether it be an acute over stretching of a muscle or ligament or repetitive strain over time often the story is simply that we don’t have the strength to care for this amount of stress.

What does the research say?

One study conducted a systematic review (high level evidence) to examine what the effects of strength training, balance/proprioception, stretching, and a combination of these techniques on injury rates.

Main Findings:

• Combination, strength, and balance/proprioception all displayed a tendency to decrease risk of injury!!!

• Stretching alone had no effect

• Strength training had highest preventative effect among all techniques

• Both acute and overuse injuries could be significantly reduced

• Overuse injuries could be reduced by nearly 50%

The take home message:

• Stretching along before and after your workouts is NOT enough to help you reduce your risk of injury

• A strength-training program integrated as a part of your sport/activities should almost be essential to help you reduce your risk!

What do the Physiotherapists and Osteopaths at the Injury Rehab Centre in Cheltenham do?

At the Injury Rehab Centre We specialise in assessment and collecting actionable data using the latest technology previously only found in elite sporting institutions particularly in understanding our patients strength and capacity. This includes:

• M.A.T Assessment created by the therapists of the Injury Rehab Centre to laser focus on areas of flexibility, balance and movement that identify the risk factors of low back pain.

• Slow Motion Video Analysis of fundamental lifting techniques such as squats, deadlifts and presses TO FIND BAD HABITS that can cause injury to areas such as the lower back.

• Strength Testing to identify any strength discrepancies that have a huge role in injury risk.

• Force Plate Technology to put a number on differences in the power you can generate through each leg that can lead to compensations and can cause repetitive stress injuries such as those activities that contribute to back pain.

• Traditional Physiotherapy and Osteopathy examinations to identify dysfunction.

Next our treatment process achieves pain relief in the shortest amount of time by using hands on Physiotherapy and Osteopathy techniques such as soft tissue massage, joint manipulation, articulation and stretching techniques. This may include the use of the True Stretch system as well as Dry Needling and Taping techniques.

Finally your management plan will involve an individualised training plan to build your strength and capacity (muscle and tendon strength, stamina, specific flexibility) often to improve discrepancies from side to side that could be the true cause of your low back pain and build confidence in your body.

If you suffer from low back pain and want to get off the treatment merry-go-round and back to feeling better, moving better and performing better contact the Injury Rehab Centre today on 95537024 or book online using the link at the top of the page.

Reference:

Lauersen, J.B., Bertelsen, D.M., Andersen, L.B. The effectiveness of exercise interventions to prevent sports injuries: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Br J Sports Med, 2014, 48: 871-877.

Run less, improve your running results?

One of the biggest hurdles the Physiotherapists and Osteopaths encounter at the Injury Rehab Centre in Cheltenham is convincing our patients with running injuries such as plantar fasciitis, achilles tendinopathy, knee pain or ITB syndrome is that the way for them to reduce their rate of injury AND improve their performance is to run less and do more weights in the gym.

A lot of runners have difficulty making time for the weight room or even hear the misconception that lifting weights will only hurt their performance with running. This however is proven to be untrue and there are plenty of options and routes for strength training programs such as traditional weight lifting, HIIT, and plyometric programs however it can be confusing to know which style of training is most suitable for you.

Mo Farah one of the greatest runners of all time didn’t get there by only running. He also adopts a consistent strength program

Let’s convince you why strength training is important for runners by informing you with a few studies findings:

• Decreased strength/control around the hip that controls hip drop, adduction, and internal rotation are associated with increased incidence of anterior knee pain (Patellofemoral pain syndrome).

• Individuals with decreased hip abduction, knee extension, knee flexion strength over a cross country season had increase in anterior knee pain and achilles tendinopathy.

• Systematic review has found that hip abduction strength had correlation with ITB pathology (limited evidence for knee/lower leg injuries)

Running injuries such asplantar fasciitis, achilles tendinopathy, knee pain or ITB syndrome are pretty complex and there are MULTIPLE factors that have been associated with increased risk of running injuries. There does seem to be a general agreement that runners with decreased strength are predisposed to some injuries!

But… I’m an avid runner, and go to the gym 2-3x a week and still have pain?

One study looked at a hip strength-training program in pain-free individuals and the effects that it had on their running mechanics. The program lasted 6 weeks, 3x a week, and incorporated movement education with weight bearing exercises.  They analysed their running mechanics before and after the program.

OUTCOMES:

• Hip Abduction strength: INCREASED 42%

• Hip External rotation strength: INCREASED 20%

• NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGE IN RUNNING FORM

• Improved single leg squat mechanics

Running is a very complex movement! This study demonstrated the notion that with pain-free individuals: Strength-training program won’t significantly change running mechanics. The runner that is in pain only while running may benefit from running retraining on top of a strength training program to get optimal benefits from your rehab!

Check out some of the top strength exercises for runners below. 

The Solution!

Until you are assessed by one of the therapists at the Injury Rehab Centre using the latest technology to put a number on your flexibility, strength, balance and running technique you won’t know exactly why your running injury has occurred nor the best course of treatment to get you running pain free faster!

Take Home Messages:

• Decreased strength may predispose individuals for running injuries

• Solely strength training won’t change form

• Runners in pain may benefit from component of retraining running

If you are a runner increasing their mileage and base for training or having pain while running then you should seek consultation from one of our Physiotherapists/Osteopaths at the Injury Rehab Centre in Cheltenham.

We will perform a comprehensive running analysis covering all components of movement to help you identify what needs to be addressed as part of your rehab program. This includes:

• M.A.T Assessment created by the therapists of the Injury Rehab Centre to laser focus on areas of flexibility, balance and movement that identify whether your are at risk to sustain an injury.

• Slow Motion Running Gait Video Analysis to IDENTIFY YOUR BAD RUNNING HABITS that stop you from progressing that next step in your running.

• Strength Testing to identify any strength discrepancies that have a huge role in increasing your injury risk.

• Force Plate Technology to put a number on differences in the power you can generate through each leg that can lead to compensations and can cause repetitive stress injuries.

•  Traditional Physiotherapy and Osteopathy examinations to identify dysfunction.

We then tailor and individualised rehab program based on your presentation to get the best possible outcome and achieve our goals.

To learn more about the Injury Rehab Centre’s Return To Running program click here or contact our friendly reception on 95537024 to learn more.

References:

Mucha, MD, Caldwell, W, Schlueter, El, Walters, C, & Hassen, A. Hip abductor strength and lower extremity running related injury in distance runners: a systematic review. J Sci Med Sport. 2016, pii: S1440-2440.

Luedke, LE, Heiderscheit, BC, Blaise Williams, DS, & Rauh, MJ. Association of isometric strength of hip and knee muscles with injury risk in high school cross country runners. Int J Sports Phys Ther. 2015, (106): 868-876

Willy, RW, Davis, IS. Effect of a hip-strengthening program on mechanics during running and during a single-leg squat. JOSPT. 2011, 41(9): 625-632.

Why does your heel hurt? 2 factors that cause Plantar Fasciitis.

Plantar Fasciitis is one of the most common causes of symptoms for heel pain in runners and is usually categorised by a sharp pain particularly in the morning that warms up or reduces with walking or running. At the Injury Rehab Centre our Physiotherapists and Osteopaths in Cheltenham see many presentations of Plantar Fasciitis every week. About 10% of Plantar Fasciitis cases are linked with running and incidence peaks for individuals between 40-60 years of age.

Why is it happening to me?

Plantar Fasciitis like many other repetitive stress injuries occurs when there is too much load for what the body can tolerate. This repetitive stress causes micro trauma in the Plantar Fascia that is constantly irritated from time spent walking or running in activities of daily living. The foot faces repetitive strain from deformation of the arch during running with landing forces up to three times body weight with every step and this may lead to the development of Plantar Fasciitis.

Am I at risk?

The following factors have been identified in the research as being major risk factors for Plantar Fasciitis.

• Reduced ankle dorsiflexion range of motion

• Obesity (BMI > 30 kg/m2)

• On feet majority of workday

Amongst Runners:

• Use of racing spikes

• High Foot Arch/Varus Hindfoot

• High frequency of running days per week

• Increased running volume km’s/week

• Years of running activity

• Inefficiencies in running form

 What are the common symptoms that I might get with plantar fasciitis?

• Pain with first steps in morning or after inactivity

• Throbbing, searing, or piercing pain located on arch / inferior heel

• Walking on toes, barefoot, or upstairs may make you worse

• Pain will often ease up after period, but may get worse with continued activity

Is there anything that I can do?

Therapeutic intervention should consist of consulting a Physiotherapist or Osteopath to assess, treat and train any underlying dysfunctions or discrepancies causing the Plantar Fasciitis.

Studies examining the foot’s musculature in individuals with Plantar Fasciitis tend to display a decrease in:

• Toe Flexor Strength

• Foot Intrinsic muscle strength

  • These muscles are important as they provide DYNAMIC arch support of the foot during propulsion of gait in running.

Exercises to help Plantar Fasciitis should focus on evening up the ledger between how much stress and strain is being put through the body whilst increasing the tolerance of the Plantar Fascia and the body as a whole to these stresses.

A simple exercise that you may want to try to increase the local capacity of the muscles of the foot is the Foot Shortening Exercise or “Arch Doming” exercise: (See figure)

Keep toes in neutral position and attempt to not bend or extend the toes of your foot while contracting the arch.  This exercise will take PRACTICE in order to get good at and you may experience some cramping in your arch, which is a good sign that you are activating these intrinsic muscles.

Perform this exercise multiple times a day with sets of 10 repetitions.

What’s my prognosis if I already have it?

The odds are in your favor! 80% of individuals who have Plantar Fasciitis had resolution of their symptoms in 12 months. However to get the best possible outcomes with your recovery a strategic approach to addressing causative and maintaining factors needs to be implemented. Patients should expect a recovery time of 6-12 months to make full resolution with Physiotherapy and Osteopathy management.

What should I do if I start noticing heel pain sticking around after a week or two?

Don’t delay. The earlier you can begin management to address Plantar Fasciitis with a Physiotherapist or Osteopath the better your outcomes in treatment with be.

The reasoning for this is likely the repetitive nature of the sport where little issues can then cause more stress and strain becoming painful over time.

Particularly if you are a runner our Return To Running Program has a comprehensive history taking and assessment process going above and beyond what other clinics do, so we can identify the root cause of your running related injury. This process is equally applicable to non runners with Plantar Fasciitis and utilises the latest technology including:

• M.A.T Assessment created by the therapists of the Injury Rehab Centre to laser focus on areas of flexibility, balance and movement that identify whether your are at risk to sustain an injury.

• Slow Motion Running Gait Video Analysis to IDENTIFY YOUR BAD RUNNING HABITS that stop you from progressing that next step in your running.

• Strength Testing to identify any strength discrepancies that have a huge role in increasing your injury risk.

• Force Plate Technology to put a number on differences in the power you can generate through each leg that can lead to compensations and can cause repetitive stress injuries.

•  Traditional Physiotherapy and Osteopathy examinations to identify dysfunction.

Next our treatment process achieves pain relief in the shortest amount of time by using hands on Physiotherapy and Osteopathy techniques such as soft tissue massage, joint manipulation, articulation and stretching techniques including the use of the True Stretch system.

Finally your management plan will involve an individualised training plan to build your running/walking movement capacity (muscle and tendon strength, stamina, specific flexibility) as well as increasing your movement skill to make you more efficient out on the road, track or trail to bullet proof your body from injury and increase performance.

Don’t delay. Contact the Injury Rehab Centre to get back on track to resolving your heel pain today. Call our friendly reception on 95537024 or book your appointment online by clicking the link below!

References:

Buchbinder, R. Plantar Fasciitis. New England j med; 2004, 350;21: 2159-2166.

Cole, CC, Seto, CS, Gazewood, J. Plantar Fasciitis: Evidence-Based Review of Diagnosis and Therapy. American Family Physician; 2005, 72 (11): 2237-2242.

Di Caprio, F, Buda, R, Mosca, M, Calabro, A., Giannini, S. Foot and lower limb diseases in runners: assessment of risk factors. Journal of Sports Science and Medicine (2010) 9, 587-596.

McKeon PO, Hertel J, Bramble D, et al. The foot core system: a new paradigm for understanding intrinsic foot muscle function. Br J Sports Med 2015;49:290.

Riddle, DL, Pulisic, M, Pidcoe, P, Johnson, RE. Factors for plantar fasciitis: matched case-control study. The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery; 2003, 85(5):872-877.

Golf Health – Reducing injury and improving your game can be the same thing.

From the outside golf can look like a gentle sport and we are very lucky to have so many great sand belt courses around the Cheltenham, Moorabin and Bayside areas. However, when we start to look at the complex interaction of muscle forces, and joint biomechanics required to play the perfect shot we can appreciate that injuries can occur like low back pain or golfer’s elbow pain any sport.

Did you know that 53% of male and 45% of female golfers suffer lower back pain and 30% of touring professionals are playing injured at any given time?

The professional tour players have recently adopted many strength and flexibility strategies to improve their game and reduce the risk of injury. They consult and see Physiotherapists, Osteopaths and Strength and Conditioning coaches everyday to make sure they are finely tuned. This started with the likes of Tiger Woods and has become a common trend with athletes like Rory Mcilroy, Adam Scott, Jason Day and Jordan Spieth.  Many amateur golfers don’t put the time into the preparation side of their game and even though they don’t get paid the same doesn’t mean it doesn’t effect their body much less.

You would never play a game of football without training adequately leading up to the game and preparing with a comprehensive warm up routine before the first bounce, so why do so many golfers neglect this side of things?

The truth is often those little nuances in the way your body works that might be causing lower back pain or golfer’s elbows symptoms out on course might also be the same limitations that are reducing the distances of your drives, or causing inconsistency in your approach play.

At the Injury Rehab Centre our Physiotherapists and Osteopaths take a holistic approach to maximizing the movement efficiency of the body in the golf swing through our Golf Health program. This program doesn’t try to change your swing technique and only focuses on getting the most out of your body. Key components of the program include:

• A full physical analysis of the way your body moves in relation to your golf swing complete with Slow Motion Video Capture and force measurement using our Force Plate Technology.

• Hands on treatment to increase movement in key areas related to an efficient golf swing such as the foot and ankle complex, hips and thoracic spine.

• Individualized mobility program to maintain flexibility in areas of limitation.

• Individualized strength and conditioning program building actionable power and stamina to increase efficiency in transitional elements of the backswing and follow through of your swing.

• Individualized warm up program to make sure you are physically prepared to get the most out of every round you play.

As mentioned previously this program is about maximising the efficiency of the way you move so you can better express your golf swing, not change your swing itself.

If physically your body is restricted or you suffer from some type of dysfunction that inhibits the complex sequencing that goes into the golf swing, no amount of money spent of clubs or lessons will improve your swing or reduce your lower back pain or golfer’s elbow symptoms. Only when you improve the function of your body will you get your game back on course.

If you are interested in increasing shot power and consistency in your shot play on course then contact our Physios and Osteos on 95537024 or book your appointment online.

Return to Running – How to beat running injuries with long term results.

Running is one of Australia’s favourite recreational activities due to convenience/affordability and we are lucky to have many great running tracks around the Cheltenham, Moorabin and Bayside areas. Unfortunately, the repetitive nature of the sport means that it is has one of the highest rates of injuries causing interruptions in training and leading to loss of conditioning.

According to Sports Medicine Australia:

• Up to 70% of recreational and competitive runners sustain overuse injuries during any 12-month period.

• 42% of all running injuries are to the knee, followed by 17% to the foot/ankle, 13% to the lower leg and 11% to the hip/pelvis.

• Overuse injuries can occur from training errors (running frequency, duration, distance, speed and lack of leg strength and flexibility) and inappropriate surfaces, terrain and footwear.

• Overuse injuries, as a result of training errors, are more common than acute injuries such as ligament and muscle sprains and strains.

• The most common overuse injuries are patellofemoral pain syndrome (runner’s knee), iliotibial band friction syndrome, plantar fasciitis, meniscal injuries, tibial stress syndrome and patellar tendinopathy.

At the Injury Rehab Centre we take a holistic approach to the treatment of running injuries such as plantar fasciitis etc in a way that not only aims to get symptomatic relief but also to create long standing change to reduce the risk of re-occurrence.

Fundamentally most overuse injuries occur because something is wrong with the way we run, causing too much stress and strain to an area resulting in pathology.

Our comprehensive history taking and assessment process means that we get to the bottom of what the issue might be. This process utilises slow motion running gait analysis, our very own Movement Assessment Tool (M.A.T) for measuring muscle and jint flexibility and control, as well as muscle strength testing using Force Plate technology and traditional Physiotherapy and Osteopathy examinations.

Next our treatment process aims to achieve symptomatic relief by using hands on Physiotherapy and Osteopathy techniques such as soft tissue massage, joint manipulation, articulation and stretching techniques including the use of the True Stretch system.

Finally your management plan will involve an individualised training plan to build your running movement capacity (muscle strength, stamina, specific flexibility) as well the competency in other directions of movement.

One of the biggest problems many runners face is that the sport is so repetitive in one direction of movement. This lack of variability can be a big factor in the origin of many overuse injuries such as patellofemoral pain syndrome, iliotibial band friction syndrome, plantar fasciitis. By creating competency in moving in other directions we give runners more movement options to utilise to offload these areas when running for extended periods of time.

If you or someone you know suffers from a running related injury book your appointment online to start your Return to Running journey today.