What Are the Top Five Essential Stages of Sports Rehab?

Sports Rehab

Sports rehab is a type of physical therapy used to address musculoskeletal system disorders, injuries, and discomfort in patients of all ages. It uses movement, exercise, and therapy interventions to help patients heal from injuries and lessen discomfort. It also helps them maintain their health and fitness.

At Motion Physical Therapy, we enjoy offering every contact our knowledge and a sincere and caring attitude. We know fostering a positive and encouraging atmosphere is as crucial to healing as physical activities and therapies. A kind and sympathetic voice will greet you when you contact us to arrange an appointment, and we will be ready to support you throughout your recovery process. 

Beyond that, we are committed to providing individualized care since therapy should be enjoyable and lighthearted. To make your recovery process as enjoyable as possible, we incorporate your favorite music into your routine and offer activities and

encouragement throughout sessions. We’re determined to provide constant encouragement, understanding, and support.

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The Top Five Essential Stages of Sports Rehab 

Here are the five stages of sports rehab recovery.

• Rest and Protect

The sole goals of the initial stage of sports rehab are to treat pain symptoms, limit movement, rest the injured area, and shield it from additional damage. It includes preventing swelling, inflammation, loss of range of motion, muscle weakness, and joint and muscle soreness.

Rest does not often entail giving up on daily activities or being bedridden. Just be aware that the activities themselves are intended to relieve pressure on the afflicted area; therefore, your degree of activity will be adjusted accordingly. Rest does not exacerbate the wounded area but prevents your muscles from being deconditioned.

• Mobility and Movement

Your body’s range of motion and joint mobility are the foundation of all muscle strength. Joints and muscles cooperate for flexion, extension, exertion, and response. The wounded area will likely feel stiff after an injury, and moving it may cause discomfort or initial pain. It might be caused by simple non-use or tissue repair. This sports rehab stage centers on returning the joints to their natural flexibility and mobility.

PTs will employ therapeutic exercise, flexibility training, and muscle stretching to regain range of motion and mobility. With several easy workouts and activities, you can restore flexibility and mobility to the afflicted area at home. Thoracic spine windmills, wall angels, shoulder pass-throughs, and walking hip openers are beneficial for physical exercise.

• Strength and Stamina

Are you feeling flexible and exposed? Fantastic! Muscle strength, endurance, and stamina must all be reestablished during the following recuperation phase. For an individual athlete, basic bodyweight exercises can help restore mid-body connectivity, while isometric exercises like the plank and glute bridge can assist in strengthening a particular area. When you’re ready, instead of using heavy weights to cause high muscular fatigue, you can choose low-load exercises or even novel techniques like blood flow restriction therapy. The development of load is the key.

A physical therapist (PT) would use signals during training to ensure a patient appropriately maintains exercise form and posture without breath hitching. Breath is such an essential component of endurance and strength.

• Reconnecting to Coordination

Consider how, throughout a lengthy stroll, you instinctively know where to place your feet. Alternately, close your eyes and reach out to touch your elbow. Proprioception, the body’s ability to integrate movement, action, and location intuitively and seemingly effortlessly, allows your body and mind to know exactly where to go in space. And since sports-related injuries can occasionally affect our proprioception, this is the next area to be addressed in sports rehabilitation.

Musculoskeletal trauma frequently causes disruptions to our spatial awareness and coordination following acute injury. We often associate these challenges with concussions, but trauma to the hip joint or recuperating from a knee injury, such as an ACL reconstruction, can also impair our ability to use our muscles and maintain balance.

• Rebuilding Sport-Specific Technical Movements

At this advanced stage of sports rehabilitation, you’ll combine all of your gradual healing and progress to resume executing intricate, sport-specific movements. Physical therapy-trained athletic trainers will concentrate on teaching you how to execute specific sport-specific actions, such as pivoting, cutting, striking, swinging, catching, and even turning.

Additionally, this is the location of your injury. In that case, the main goal of your sport-specific training will be to avoid repeating the actions or circumstances that first harmed the area or created damage. You can only anticipate a safe return to competition when you concentrate on learning technical movements unique to your sport and work with a compassionate and knowledgeable physical therapist.