Injury Management and Rehabilitation

By Dr. Darcy Dore.

Injury management and rehabilitation

We are well into the winter sports season now and here at the Foot and Ankle Clinic we are starting to see foot and leg injuries of all kinds!  Injuries can be stressful and frustrating especially when they prevent you from doing what you love. Did you know that so far in the AFL (Round 6) there has been 21 players side lined with foot/ankle/calf injuries?

Common injuries we treat here at The Foot and Ankle Clinic include:

Shin splints, Calf injuries, Tendon pain, Ankle sprains and complaints, Stress Fractures, Plantar Fasciitis (arch and heel pain), Toe pain, Joint pain and more!

At the Foot and Ankle Clinic we recognise the importance of proper injury management, rehabilitation and prevention. The stages of injury management are outlined below, it is important to effectively understand the injury location and cause in order to manage it most effectively and to prevent further injury where possible.

Pre-rehabilitation:

If you were concerned about a “weak ankle” or niggle somewhere it would be beneficial to attempt to prevent the injury before it happens as “prevention is always better than a cure”. This entails identifying the risk of lower leg injury and ensuring that we do everything in our power to prevent this injury. This can be as simple as a change of shoes or could involve a detailed and progressive rehabilitation program to build strength and coordination.

Injury identification:

If injury was to occur it is important to identify the injury (sometimes a scan is necessary) and the risk factors that may have lead to it in order to manage the injury. Advice will be given around the early stages of recovery to reduce inflammation and pain.

Injury management:

Depending on the injury it may be beneficial to offload the injured structure. This could be done with strapping, CAM boot, Ankle brace, Orthotic or other specific footwear. Load management and exercise modification may be implemented here to reduce the load on the injured structure to an appropriate level for healing. Early loading exercises can usually be implemented at this point to ensure the structure and surrounding do not lose too much strength.

Accelerating injury healing:

We are fortunate enough to offer cutting edge treatments to assist in accelerating injury healing. These treatments are applied to the injury site to increase the immune systems response and efficiency in healing the injury. These treatments include: Extra-Corporeal Shockwave Therapy, Tissue Regeneration Therapy Injections and Low Level Laser. These treatments can complement other treatments and get you back on your feet faster!

Rehabilitation and injury prevention:

Proper rehabilitation is very important post injury to ensure there is adequate strength in around the injury site to prevent further injury. Exercises should focus on specific loading exercises in and around injury and also sports specific dynamic exercises which simulate movement that would normally be a part of your sport. This is very important as the muscles, tendons and ligaments all need to work in unison and absorb load effectively to reduce injury. Gentle exercises will usually start off in the above injury management stage and become progressively more advanced until strength and function is restored.

There we have the main steps to overcome an injury! Remember if you are unsure it is best to book a consult with a quality practitioner!

Book online with the Foot and Clinic now! We have clinics located at Chadstone, East Bentleigh, Moe, Sale, Traralgon, Warragul & Online Store and Retail Enquiries. NO REFERRAL NEEDED!.