Physioworks Health Group Director & Leading Specialist Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist Andrew Dalwood (FACP)* discusses winter injuries & offers some advice about how to prevent & avoid them.
Winter injuries – What are they? Why do they occur?
I classify three key reasons that typically create the winter injuries that present regularly at Physioworks Health Group at this time of year. Today let’s look at the first of these:
Injury from the long winter team sport season.
It is fantastic to see so many in our community participating, across a wide age group & levels of competition, in a range of outdoor winter team sports, from footy & AFLW to soccer & netball.
However, the ongoing repetitive nature of long winter sports season can mean fatigue. And this can lead to injury.
Can you maintain your body across this long winter playing (and training) period?
Heavy grounds & colder weather means that stretching & warm-up are key to injury prevention pre-game.
Then recovery is critical post-game.
Recovery may include ensuring a good night sleep past game/training. Do light stretching. Ice those knocks straight away.
Managing the body may include having a training session off to freshen up – give your body a quick but well-deserved break. Recovery from winter cold & flu, or COVID, can also affect your performance.
You may need to immediately self-manage an injury. How? Follow the simple steps shown here: RICE and HARM.
Still sore? It might mean getting that niggle or knock checked by your team trainer and/or physio.
And now, as winter sets in, the intensity lifts in back half of the season. Hopefully, there is the run into finals. But how are you feeling? Are you playing hurt? Do you have niggles? Are you playing tired?
Now (June/July) is the time to get these niggles checked; before they cause a larger, potentially long-term injury concern.
Injury prevention & management is critical to ensure you manage your well-being across the entire season, and ensure optimum performance come finals time.
Be a team player. Manage yourself to ensure you do what is best for you, and your team.
Members of the team at Physioworks Health Group work in elite sport club environments, and/or support numerous community football, netball & basketball clubs with their physiotherapy needs on training & match days.
Our team can assist you. Talk to the physiotherapy & allied health care at your preferred Physioworks clinic to help prevent & manage your winter sport injury.
*As awarded by the Australian College of Physiotherapy in 2009.