How to Treat Common Sports Injuries

Treatment of Common Sport Sprains

To regain proper levels of function, your therapist should do a proper diagnosis before prescribing treatment. OC Sports and Rehab uses the clinical findings of the level of function, ligamentous laxity, hemorrhaging, point tenderness, total ankle motion, swelling, and pain to classify a patient with an acute ankle ligament sprain.

1. 1. Kinesiology tape: Kinesiology tape is an adhesive sports tape designed to be wearable for several days. The tape facilitates the body’s natural healing process while supporting muscles, soft tissue, and joints without restricting the range of motion.
   2. Manual therapy: Manual therapy procedures, such as lymphatic drainage, active and passive soft tissue, joint mobilization, and anterior-to-posterior talar mobilization, can be very useful for healing.
   3. Therapeutic exercises: Implementing rehabilitation programs that include high-skilled and progressive therapeutic exercises for patients with severe sprains.
   4. Return to sport (RTS): Before considering RTS, the athlete needs to show proper progress and tolerance for dynamic and sport-specific exercises along with proper stability and control. RTS protocols and testing need to be followed to ensure the athlete safely returns to sport with reduced risk factors for additional injury.
      • Isokinetic testing can test shoulder, knee, hip, and ankle strength.  We use this in our protocol for proper discharge to know the appropriate time to allow patients to return to their sport.

Sports medicine specialists such as our Physical Therapists will create a more detailed treatment plan for your specific condition. This may include a thorough review of your training program and an evaluation for any predisposing anatomic or biomechanical factors.

Physical therapy services are a great solution for keeping optimal load and conditioning of the athlete while healing the condition more rapidly. Most overuse can be prevented with proper training and a dynamic movement assessment screening.

Contact any of our physical therapy locations and see how we can help heal common sports injuries.