An athlete is made of a cocktail mix of: Preparation, Participation, Competition, Injury, Determination, Spirit, Emotion and Dependence!!
Preparation: Years of Mental and Physical Conditioning, Diet, Mentor insights.
Participation and Competition in the true spirit of the game.
Injuries are inevitable irritants
Determination is required to come back/ win.
Spirit of contest and fairness
Emotions are at the surface always!!
Dependence is on family, friends, coach and mentors, team and aides, fans and media.
At Prakruti SSPC, we try to understand each aspect of the Athlete and support him/ her throughout.
Prevention of injuries, especially in children: Our child athletes are the future stars of the country and we need to protect them from injuries while they hone their skills. Children in sports are at an added risk of injury due to the immature musculo-skeletal system, sudden growth spurts, hormonal changes, and immature cerebral functions. Children are also at risk of permanent damage to the musculo skeletal system as injury to endplates can result in growth defects. It is sad that with so much at risk, they still have no decision making powers! Crucial matters like “how much to practise”, “which sport to play”, “which competition to participate in”, etc. are all handled by parents, guardians, and coaches! In fact, children are more at risk of “Over-Training” injuries than adults, because they are sometimes not taken seriously!!
Injury Prevention in Recreational and Professional Sportsmen: Sports injuries cannot be completely prevented. The sum total of forces generated when a body is in speed, are too large! A good fitness program should correct any obvious muscular imbalances/ tightness and gross weaknesses found during regular fitness evaluations. Improving strength and power is important in younger athletes, but elite athletes have already achieved peak levels, and maintenance of achieved gains is much more important than further strengthening. In fact aggressive strengthening may lead to injury risks!! Thinking that “A SPORTSMAN IS WHAT A GOOD TRAINER MAKES HIM” is foolish and arrogant: Sportsmen are made of talent, not only hard training. Too much interference “correcting” unnecessarily, ignoring small injuries, letting them become large, cutting “recovery” time IS DANGEROUS!!
Prehab: We conduct Preventive rehabilitation programs for various sports, like Tennis, Swimming, Cricket, Badminton, Golf, Football, etc. as well as for weekend athletes and Gym-enthusiasts. These programs include fitness tests, sport-specific training programs, and regular follow-ups. Children, adults and athletes of different levels are welcome.
Rehabilitation after Injuries: However exciting it looks to an ordinary viewer, the role of a physiotherapist who runs on the field when an athlete gets injured is limited. The body heals itself in the first few weeks after injury, and the role of doctors and therapists remains supportive at best!! The challenges of a good rehab therapist start after the initial recovery, and are multi-hued!! The backlog (weaknesses) from all previous injuries, the body’s protective adaptations, posture, psychological outcomes, the special needs of the particular sport, and so many other factors create a maze that has to be solved!!
Rehabilitation after injury can be sometimes “post-operative”, and then the rehabilitation goals have to be guided by the procedure performed. The therapist’s previous experience with rehabilitation after such procedures is vastly helpful in the outcome of rehabilitation.
Many challenges might arise on the path to recovery and the chances of smooth and uneventful return to play are enhanced by the experience of the therapist and the “Trust-bond” between the sportsman and Doctor-team.
Taping to prevent injury/ pain: Though we do not believe that an injured player should play at all, we understand that sometimes the player has an important tournament, or a game of great significance to his career and wishes to play. After explaining the expected outcome and risks involved, we do use various taping and strapping techniques to help the player through an event. We also use “Kinesio-taping” to facilitate muscle recruitment, and sports-taping in recovering athletes to protect structures.