Injuries can be traumatic and are commonly known as overuse injuries.
Traumatic sports injuries such as sprains and strains, the result of impacts and direct trauma and pre-existing joint and muscle imbalance can impede optimal tissue healing and return to sport. For best results, the local tissue processes must be dealt with as well as any pre-existing mechanical factors.
Overuse injuries can be experienced in any sport. They are often experienced by:
- rowers
- swimmers
- runners
- paddlers
- cyclists
They tend to be a result of gradual tissue overload due to poor body mechanics or technique and equipment deficiencies.
The approach to treating them often involves manual therapy to alter joint ranges and movement patterns as well as some degree of technique change and retraining and implementation of preventative strategies.
Andrew gained his APA Sports Physiotherapy Title just prior to the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and had extensive experience treating injuries associated with:
- individual swimmers and swimming squads, and elite, age-group triathletes. This has involved not only treating acute injuries but treatment and screening for injury prevention and performance enhancement
- middle and long-distance runners
- road cyclists and mountain bikers
- surfers, surf ski paddlers, dragon boat and outrigger canoe paddlers
- golfers
- Rugby Union, League and Soccer
Andrew uses a movement focus rather than a pain focus in his approach to treatment and retraining, working to identify and restore efficient movement patterns that have led to injury and training awareness and integration of new or restored movement patterns in order to prevent reoccurrence.