Blog Archives

A Petersham Chiropractor's Tips for Preventing Netball Injuries

8/17/2015

Wear the Correct Footwear:

One of the most common injuries is an ankle sprain, often from incorrect footwear. Make sure your shoes are in good condition. They should have good grip and support. Make sure they are properly fitted and try to wear them in before getting on the court. I prefer Brooks and Asics.

Stretching/Warm Up

Always warm up with an active warm up. This means a jog or any exercise or activity that mimics some of the actions of the game. The warm up decreases the chance of injury on the court as you are preparing the body for play. Even if you are running late, make sure you take the time to run from the car to the court or run around the court before going on.

It is also important to warm up your hands and fingers. Finger sprains are another common injury. This can be done with quick passes and also with by getting the hands moving without the ball.

It is also important to stretch and cool down. This allows the muscles to gradually cool down and lessens the tightness felt after a game. This is often even more important than the warm up.

Training

Make sure you attend your training sessions. This is to prevent injuries from improper throwing techniques, jumping/landing and changing of direction. It is important to master the technique of good chest, shoulder and bounce passes. It is also important to have the fitness to be able to stay on the court for a whole game. This includes cardiovascular fitness but also balance, coordination, strength and flexibility. Landing properly and learning to change direction quickly and safely are also important techniques to avoid excess stress on the ankles and knees. Training will also help develop the muscles around the ankles, knees and shoulders to prevent injury.

Preventing Injury & tips for when injured

Seek a pre-participation health check by a health practitioner to identify any musculoskeletal problems or to treat any current injuries.

Make sure that you listen to your body. If you are on the court or are about to take the court and are sore or are not feeling well, do not take the court.

If you have weakness or pain in your ankles, knees, hips or lower back make sure you seek help from a health practitioner- Chiropractic, Physiotherapy, Massage or Acupuncture can be helpful.

If you have a sprain at a game, make sure you get some treatment on the injury as soon as possible to help bring the swelling down and speed up recovery.

If you have sustained an injury, ensure you receive rehabilitation before resuming play.

For more information contact Amy at Crystal Street Family Chiropractic - proud sponsor of Summer Hill Lakers Netball Club.

Growing Pains - Petersham Chiropractor on Crystal Street

8/6/2015

The most common cause of leg pain and cramps in young children is growing pains. Growing pains are a major cause of discomfort and can impact on a child’s concentration, physical and psychological wellbeing. Occurring in approximately 37% of children, the exact cause is still largely unknown.

So what are the possible causes:

Overuse of big muscles
Joint misalignment such as alignment of the knees or feet
Psychological factors
We know that the first 5 years of a child’s life is when they have the greatest spinal growth. During the 1st year, the spine increases by 12cm, between 1-5 years, the spine increases by 15cm, between 5-10 years, there is 10cm growth and between 10-18 years, 15-20cm growth. This means if something was to interfere with this growth such as injury, birth trauma or sedentary lifestyle, problems may arise.

So what do we know about growing pains?

The pain is usually in both legs
It most often will come on in the afternoon or at night.
It is most common between ages 2-12 and is usually gone by puberty.
In order to be classified as growing pains there should be no signs of redness or swelling, no history of trauma and no decreased movement or limping.
There appears to be no difference in the amount of exercise or activity between those children with and those without growing pains.
There appears to be a family history of growing pains in the child’s sibling or parent.
The growing pains tend to occur at intervals of 1 to 3 months.

What can be done?

Look at your child’s knees and feet – Do their shoes fit? Are they too worn? Do they require orthotics?
A little investigation of wellbeing - What are their muscles doing? Are they dehydrated? Are they mineral or vitamin deficient? Magnesium deficiency is a common cause of leg cramps. Do they require more vegetables and fruit to give them nourishment to alleviate cramps or help with neurological development?
Do they need to stretch? This includes hamstrings, quadriceps and lower back muscles.
What is happening in their spine and nerves. Have they fallen over and irritated joint or nerve function in their pelvis or lower back? Have they been sitting too much or with bad posture? (This is where chiropractic comes in!)

Important note: there is a strong link between the legs, spine and pelvis. The muscles, nerves and joints in these regions can affect the other regions in the chain. Any interruption in the nerves running between the lumbar spine and the legs can impair function and cause pain. This is not to say that this is the whole cause of growing pains but studies are showing that treatment of these regions along with the legs themselves can help in resolving the problem.

A Petersham Chiropractor's Tips for Preventing Netball Injuries

Growing Pains - Petersham Chiropractor on Crystal Street

Author

Archives

Categories