What is Injury Rehabiliation?

While osteopathic treatment, time and rest can lead to a complete reduction in symptoms such as pain, stiffness and discomfort, tissues are very rarely restored to their 'former glory' without adequate rehabilitation. This may not be an issue to begin with but further down the line, a lack of post-injury care can lead to re-injury of the affected area, a difficulty in performing tasks which were manageable before the injury and also lead to injury in other parts of the body. 

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Rehabilitation is unique to each individual and their particular demands. A footballer may have turned an ankle in a clumsy challenge and require exercises to restore previous stability and co-ordination in the same ankle. A mother may have had nagging low back pain following pregnancy which gives way to more a sense of weakness and vulnerability when caring for her newborn. An office worked may have started to suffer from neck-related headaches having increased their working week from a normal 40-hours to a more stressful 60-hours in an attempt to get a project finished in time. A skier may have torn his anterior cruciate ligament and had surgery which needs a tailored post-operative rehabilitation programme to restore full range of movement and strength so that he could ski again.

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In the examples above, an osteopath will look at the on-going needs of the individual whether those needs are returning to sport, feeling confident of re-injury avoidance or just manage daily activities. Not only will the short and long-term goals be addressed but also any factors that may have caused the injury in the first place. Such factors could be over-training, under-training, imbalance, a lack of flexibility, poor posture or poor core strength. Quite often, the old adage of 'a stitch in time saves nine' applies to injury rehabilitation.