The old saying “prevention is better than the cure” certainly rings true when it comes to injury – when injury can be prevented, there’s no need for a cure. In sport, injury prevention is a high priority as in many cases, injury prevents athletes from competing, or at least reduces athletic ability to an extent. Whilst many injuries can be treated, whether you are a professional athlete, a weekend warrior or enjoy social sports with friends, it’s important to do what you can to prevent injury.
Osteopathy for injury prevention
As well as helping to reduce aches and pains, you may be surprised to learn that osteopathy can also assist in injury prevention. Professional athletes throughout the world have osteopaths on their team, helping them to keep their body properly aligned and functioning optimally for competition, as well as recommending a range of stretching exercises to prevent injury through muscle or joint strain.
Osteopathy is based on the philosophy that the body functions most efficiently when it’s in alignment. Whilst we don’t give a lot of thought to small knocks and bumps that we get from playing sport or taking part in athletic activities, they can lead to imbalances, slight misalignment and a small difference in weight bearing posture. In most cases, we simply get used to these issues, but when taking sport seriously, the physical demands involved can lead to susceptibility to injury or affect performance in some way. For professional athletes, even the smallest problem can be massively amplified.
If you take part in sports on any level, an osteopath may be able to help you keep your body balanced and help prevent restrictions in movement. By taking steps to prevent injury, there is less need to worry about curing them.
At Solihull Osteopathic Practice, we are proud to sponsor extremely talented local pentathlete Ebony Wake, who is one to watch for a future GB medal. We have been working with Ebony since 2012, providing preventative treatment and watching her improve year after year.
Another Solihull Osteopathic Practice sponsored athlete is Paralympic silver medal winning high jumper Jonathan Broom-Edwards. Jeremy James has been working with Jonathan every month to help his body recover after a heavy training block, helping to prevent future injury.
We also sponsor and provide preventative treatment for local players at the Rob Owen Squash Academy and Chris Ryder Squash Junior Academy. Both clubs were set up to help aspiring young players and regular treatment for injury prevention has become an important aspect of their training programmes.
To learn more about osteopathy for injury prevention, or to arrange a consultation with one of our osteopathic team, call today on 0121 705 4499.