Pre Injury Screening and Rehabilitation

The majority of the population consult a physio when they have suffered an injury; however, at Pro Physio SA it is also our role to prevent injuries. In the professional sport setting this often involves a routine pre injury screening process. This can be performed systematically throughout various stages of the competitive season dependent on the team or individual goals. The screening process is used to generate data to help identify deficits or abnormalities predisposing an individual to both acute and over-use injuries. After assessment, the information collected is analysed and an appropriate intervention plan is implemented, aimed at reducing injury.

Pre injury screening often involves assessing:

  • Strength: objectively measured with a hand held dynamometer, which can produce a number representing the force produced by a muscle. A sphygmomanometer, is also often used to measure pressure.
  • Joint range of movement: goniometer can be used to give an objective measure in degrees.
  • Functional specific testing relating to sport such as squat, walking & running.
  • Muscle length.
  • Age and gender are also taken into consideration.

Once a baseline assessment is completed, the weaknesses and discrepancies can be identified and an individualised program can be developed, this is often referred to as “pre-hab”.  The nature of this program is dependent on the findings as well as a variety of individual factors and often involves exercises that can be performed in the gym setting. This baseline screening assessment can also be beneficial when managing an athlete’s load throughout the season. For instance, if performance drops off, we can assess the athlete’s strength measures and compare to baseline. This could also be a sign when returning from injury that the strength should return to the baseline measure prior to returning to play in order to help prevent re-injury.

Pre injury screening is vital for professional athletes; however, it can also be effective for the average person. In particular for individuals about to take up a sport, exercise, a weight loss program or those who have had a recurrent injury or injuries.

Pro Physio SA

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