SPORTS REHABILITATION

I genuinely thought that my career is over because I’d never seen anyone being stretchered off. I was knocked out for 10 minutes, after that the pain never went down,” Hadik Pandya said
The back injury once again surfaced during the 2019 World Cup and even though he completed the tournament, it was clear that something needed to be done.
Hardik last played an international game against South Africa last September, post which he underwent surgery and intense rehabilitation, thus ruling him out for the rest of the 2019-20 season. He soon made a comeback in IPL.
Rehabilitation is a multi-disciplinary approach that helps to restore optimal or highest form and function.
The process of rehabilitation should start as early as possible after an injury and form a continuum with other therapeutic interventions. It can also start before or immediately after surgery when an injury requires surgical intervention.
Principles are the foundation upon which rehabilitation is based. Here are seven principles of rehabilitation, which can be remembered by the mnemonic: ATC IS IT.
  1. A: Avoid aggravation. It is important not to aggravate the injury during the rehabilitation process. Therapeutic exercise, if administered incorrectly or without good judgment, has the potential to aggravate the injury.
  2. T: Timing. The therapeutic exercise part of the rehabilitation program should begin as soon as possible—that is, as soon as it can occur without causing aggravation. The sooner patients can begin, the sooner they can return to full activity. Following injury, rest is necessary, but too much rest can actually be detrimental to recovery. Athletes can however rest the portion of the body that is actually injured and work the rest of the body – often referred to as “relative rest”.
  3. C: Compliance. Without a compliant patient, the rehabilitation program will not be successful. To ensure compliance, it is important to inform the patient of the content of the program and the expected course of rehabilitation. Setting goals and including athletes in decision-making works as a motivation factor to continue the rehabilitation process.
  4. I: Individualization. Each person responds differently to an injury and to the subsequent rehabilitation program. Even though an injury may seem the same in type and severity as another, undetectable differences can change an individual’s response to it. Individual physiological and chemical differences profoundly affect a patient’s specific responses to an injury.
  5. S: Specific sequencing. A therapeutic exercise program should follow a specific sequence of events. This specific sequence is determined by the body’s physiological healing response.
  6. I: Intensity. The intensity level of the therapeutic exercise program must challenge the patient and the injured area but at the same time must not cause aggravation. Knowing when to increase intensity without overtaxing the injury requires observation of the patient’s response and consideration of the healing process.
  7. T: Total patient. Treating the Whole Patient. It is important for the unaffected areas of the body to stay finely tuned. This means keeping the cardiovascular system at a pre-injury level and maintaining range of motion, strength, coordination, and muscle endurance of the uninjured limbs and joints. The whole body must be the focus of the rehabilitation program, not just the injured area. Providing the patient with a program to keep the uninvolved areas in peak condition, rather than just rehabilitating the injured area, will help to better prepare the patient physically and psychologically for when the injured area is completely rehabilitated.
STAGES OF INJURY REHABILITATION:
  • Effective rehabilitation should always be a staged process aimed at promoting recovery, accelerating return to sport, optimizing performance, and preventing re-injury.
  • RNH has your injury rehabilitation experts. If you need help working through this process you can find more online at rnhhospital.com and book an appointment.