Osteopathy and Sports Injuries

Osteopaths are trained to diagnose and treat "difficult" musculo-skeletal injuries. This ability comes into its own when dealing with sports injuries. Often amateur and elite athletes alike are pushing their bodies to the limit of their physiological abilities; it is at this point that any small bio-mechanical defect can cause a mechanical breakdown. The ability of the body to adapt and compensate for this defect will reach a limit. When the body is pushed beyond this limit the compensation breaks down, resulting in tissue damage often far away from the site of the defect. It is the skill of the osteopath to identify the original defect, help the body to adapt and compensate for any bio-mechanical limitation and to promote tissue healing. This makes the osteopathic approach to sports injuries unique.

An example; a left-handed tennis player had a recurrent, left shoulder injury aggravated by serving. After consulting a variety of specialists, he consulted an osteopath who discovered that the rotator cuff injury to the left shoulder was occurring as a result of bringing his shoulder too far back during the serving action. This was due to a restricted lower body rotation, caused by poor healing from an appendix scar operated on some nine months previously. After treatment and stretching exercises the trunk rotation was restored and the shoulder injury was allowed to heal.