Tennis Injuries
Injuries are an almost inevitable part of any sport and tennis is no exception.
Sudden changes of direction, asymmetric strain and explosive movements all place a tennis player’s body under stress.
Injuries related to tennis can be placed into two categories:
• Chronic, or repetitive strain, injuries
and
• Acute injuries
Chronic Tennis Injuries
Chronic injuries occur when your body is not coping with strain it is being subject to on a routine basis.
A great example of a chronic tennis-related injury is Tennis Elbow.
Tennis elbow is pain, inflammation and, sometimes, damage of a tendon in the forearm. Tennis elbow occurs as the tendon fails to cope with gripping a tennis racket for long periods and/or regular vibration from taking shots.
In managing chronic injuries, there are two main approaches:
• Condition the injured tissue
• Off-load the injured tissue
Conditioning means helping the tissue adapt to strain. This can include strengthening the tissue through specific exercise, or using manual therapy, such as provided by chiropractors.
Manual therapy can help to improve the conditioning of tissue by:
• Improving tissue flexibility
• Improving joint mobility
• Removing sites of tension within tissue
• Helping your body reorganise tissue to become stronger
Off-loading injured tissue could sound like a euphemism for rest. However, at Gloucester Chiropractors, we want you to continue doing what you want to do as much as possible.
There are numerous other ways of off-loading tissue.
In the case of tennis elbow, you may change your racket’s grip or strings. You may change how you hold the racket or the kind of shots you make (temporarily). You can use supports for the elbow.
Manual therapy can also help off-load tissue by removing unnecessary sources of tension.
Again using tennis elbow as an example, tension in the neck or shoulder can place additional strain on tissue in the arm. Removing this additional strain allows the arm to cope with the sporting demand.
This is another reason why Gloucester Chiropractors take a whole-body approach to care.
Acute Injuries
Acute tennis injuries are characterised by sudden onset in response to one particular strain. An example could include spraining your ankle.
Acute injuries inevitably impact on your ability to play, so the focus needs to be on
i) Prevention
ii) Rapid recovery
iii) Regaining full function
At Gloucester Chiropractors, we like to prioritise prevention. Receiving chiropractic care helps your body function at its best. When combined with personalised exercise and sport-specific advice, injury risks can be dramatically reduced.
Rapid recovery following an acute injury is essential for any tennis player. The steps that need to be followed really depend on the type and severity of injury.
For example, a very severe muscle tear warrants an anti-inflammatory and R.I.C.E approach, but a less severe tear may respond better to no ice, using heat and early mobilisation/activation.
Our chiropractors have years of experience to be able to advise the best approach for any particular injury.
Regaining full-function should always be the end-goal following an acute injury.
Even in cases where the injury has been severe, for instance a ruptured Achilles, our chiropractors can help you get as close as possible to pre-injury function.
Depending on your playing level, we can work with coaches and trainers to ensure you are following the best possible road map.
Our whole-body approach is invaluable when it comes to restoring full function following injury. For example, did you know that an ankle sprain causes your gluteal muscles on the same leg to become weak?
Left untreated, this weakness can impact on performance and predispose you to further injury.
Performance
No player of any sport or any ability wants to be injured. Fortunately, there is another way.
Chiropractic care can help keep your body functioning at its best.
When your body is functioning at its best, your injury risk reduces and your ability to perform improves.
The same things that help to prevent injury also help to improve performance.
