Injury Rehabilitation Procedure

How Is Injury Rehabilitation Managed?
Rehabilitation Procedures
• Rehabilitation aims to restore the injured site so that the athlete can return to practice and competition without pain, and with the same range of movement they had before the injury.
• Successful rehabilitation procedures reduce the chance of injury
Progressive Mobilisation
• It is important to progressively introduce movement to the injured area once the RICER technique has been complete
• e.g. active and passive movement
• Gradually moving the area using light stretches and rotations will reduce the build-up of scar tissue and allow greater mobility in the injured part
Graduated Exercise
Stretching
• Stretching is a vital part of any rehabilitation program
• Even if the area is immobilised(for example, in a cast or brace) a program should be designed to prevent muscle atrophy (wasting of muscle tissue)
• As strength is slowly regained, further resistance can be applied.
• It is important 
to monitor the increase in strength of both the agonist muscles and antagonist muscles; that is, both the muscle being treated, and the muscle that moves in the opposite direction.
• Weights can also assist in building up muscle strength and restoring muscles to their pre-injury strength
• Strengthening muscles acts a source of prevention as stronger muscles can withstand greater forces
• Conditioning the injured area to perform skills and allow a full range of motion is important
• Initially activities should be low intensity high reps – and then gradually move back to one RM
Total Body
a bowler in cricket who has injured their rotary cuff needs to ensure they include circular movement to the shoulder joint to prepare for the bowling action
Return to Play Policies and Procedures
• Clubs have a duty of care to ensure athletes are fit to return to training and competition when they are injury-free – not before their injury has healed
• For example the Australia Rugby League recommends that if a player has suffered memory loss or loss of conciseness as a result of a head injury, they may not return to play for 1-2 weeks
• If the concussion was severe they may not return for a month, and if it was not the players first concussion, return to play may take even longer
• Can be subject to fitness tests or have to complete a full week of training
Ethical Considerations
• Elite athletes in particular feel pressure from their coaches, teammates, sponsors and society to be back on the field as soon as possible.
• These added pressures can force athletes to return to competition before the injury has completely healed, running the risk of further damage to the