Problem
Let’s look at the slide that was presented on a course I attended on patella-femoral pain – knee cap pain. It relates to so many failed attempts for injury recovery. We get injured. We rest. We return to activity. We’re no better. We rest more. We’re frustrated so we decide to push through the problem. We’re no better.
!!! FRUSTRATION !!!
What went wrong? Sometimes we tear a muscle or sprain an ankle suddenly, but often, we have a slow onset of niggle that worsens. This is likely to be due to the body being unable to take the demands of our activity levels. We can increase distance, speed or time too quickly and overload tissue that is unprepared or compensating for our weakness or stiffness.
Pathway to recovery should be
Offload – stop doing what is causing injury. That doesn’t mean stop everything. You may be able to run for 30’ painfree or with only minor discomfort. That’s OK to continue. You may be able to use a cross trainer.
Know why you injured – have an appointment to know what happened. When you know where you are weak, stiff or have poor movement patterns you will feel better – it makes sense. Speak to a good physio
Rehab – get your body more able to cope with the demands you expect of it. Do the correct exercises –well and regularly. Your body will change and be better than before
Reload – steadily return to activity with a graded programme. Incorporate run drills designed by your physio to become a better runner. You can come back from an injury faster! With your new strength, flexibility and capability your body will operate with improved engineering, spreading the load effectively through the body.
Bones, tendons and muscles all respond to strain by becoming stronger, as long as the strain is not excessive – we can guide you from injury to better than before!
