SPORTS INJURIES
When looking at sports medicine we adopt a holistic approach by not just looking at the structure, which encompasses the bones, joints, muscles and ligaments, but also the chemical/ metabolic balance of the body (vitamins , minerals, fluid levels, carbohydrates, fats and proteins), as well as the emotional aspects of the patient.
Injuries and recidivism can occur due to failure in any one or all of these areas.
From a structural point of view, injuries that give a localised pain can often be referred quite a distance from the point of origin. For example, an ankle injury may be caused from the lower back, or an elbow injury from the neck.
This is due to the nerves that originate from the spine feed into the arms and legs and if the nerves get trapped/ pinched then extremity muscles become weakened and joints in turn get damaged, rather like a hose pipe analogy: if you put a heel on the hose pipe near the tap, the water supply down the end of pipe some distance away gets stopped. So, if one only treats the localised pain or inflammation one might not get to the root of the problem.
Injuries can occur due to having insufficient vitamins and minerals.
These help form the building blocks of the ligaments etc.
For example, if you build a wall you need sand, cement and bricks, if you are missing the cement you can still build the wall, but every time you stress the wall, it will fall down.
This is the same with the structures of the body, if you are deficient of certain minerals, the body structures that are stressed will fail even though all other factors seem correct.
Therefore the practitioner will assess these areas, form a treatment plan and educate the patient from injury back to recovery so there is an understanding of the cause of the injury and how to prevent this from occurring again.