Injury Rehabilitation
...Because the rehabilitation process only BEGINS once you've FINISHED physiotherapy
It was estimated in a study by Waddell that 80% of people will suffer from back pain at some stage in their lives. Back pain can be a debilitating injury that will not only affect quality of life, but also quality of work. Back pain may be perhaps the most debilitating, but not the only injury that people seek treatment for.
Must people look for a quick fix with pain, but it doesn't exist. When injured or in pain, the first stop people make is to get some hands on treatment – whether it be from a physiotherapist, osteopath, chiropractor or acupuncturist. Hands on therapy is the perfect medium to reduce inflammation, improve range of motion, assist with tissue healing, and treat pain, however it is only one part of the rehabilitation process.
Some of the most common causes of injury are; poor posture, muscle imbalance, poor motor program development and an incomplete recovery from a previous injury.
Unfortunately, traditional rehabilitation environments do not prepare some patients sufficiently for a return to sport, work or activity. So, as useful, and as important as hands on therapy is, the rehabilitation process only BEGINS once therapy has been completed. Here’s why:
Poor Posture
Poor posture contributes to lower back pain, neck pain, shoulder pain, knee pain, ankle injuries... Basically everything! The further away the body is from good posture, the less efficiently the body works and the greater the likelihood of pain.
Treating an injury without addressing postural correction is merely a short term solution to a problem that will probably return.
Hands on therapy is not the most effective way to address postural dysfunction.
Poor motor program development
A motor program, or movement pattern, is a series of commands given from the brain to complete a movement. These commands are often given incorrectly and these poor movements put extra stress on muscles and create pain in those areas by making compensatory movements. Every compensation that the body makes gives an extra chance of pain and/or injury.
Failure to correct these poor movements greatly increases the likelihood that pain will return. No hands on therapy can do this - it can only be done by exercise
Muscle Imbalance
This refers to one side of the body being stronger, or tighter than the other. Imbalances are often caused by things such as sitting (at work), carrying things on one side of the body (like a baby) and exercising poorly.
These imbalances are often created without you knowing it. If they are not addressed in the rehabilitation process, the pain will more than likely remain.
Pregnancy
Many women have back pain after having babies, especially after delivering by cesarean. The procedure of having a cesarean involves cutting through the stomach muscles. This shuts off the most important stabilizing muscle in the stomach and leaves the spine unprotected. This dramatically increases the chances of suffering from back pain. In order to prevent this from happening, exercises are required to restore function to this muscle, as it will no longer work on its own.
Incomplete recovery from previous injury
One of the easiest ways of getting injured or suffering from pain is to not address the problems properly the first time you have that injury. Without it, re-injury is likely.
Spend some time ensuring a complete rehabilitation from injury. This will ensure a safe return to activity and significantly reduce the chance of spending more time and money on the treatment table in the future.
