Sports injury and orthopaedic rehab at Balance Performance Physiotherapy

If you’re unfortunate enough to suffer an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) rupture as Lucas Leiva did last week – the Brazil international will miss the rest of the season having injured his left knee during Tuesday’s Carling Cup quarter-final victory at Chelsea – as a professional footballer reconstructive surgery is essential to return to the game.

If you’re not a pro but the injury results in your knee continuing to irregularly give way, an operation to reconstruct the ACL is really your only option, especially if you aspire to have an active lifestyle. At Balance of course we actively encourage you to ask for more and expect more from yourself. However whether pro athlete or not the operation is only effective if followed with quality rehabilitation executed with discipline and patience. Ensure your rehab guides you far enough down the road for you to achieve a complete recovery, give you absolute confidence to return to your sport and has provided you with resilience to future injury (either to the same knee or another structure that becomes vulnerable due to inadequate rehab). Of course there is no such thing as invulnerability in a human but to reiterate – you should be asking more of yourself and more of your physio or sports therapist. Do not pull up short!

Hamstring grafts are the grafts of choice these days but patella tendon grafts can also be used and do well.

Here’s the kind of schedule you’d expect going into rehab post operatively, which is initially quite straightforward:

Weeks 1-4 focussed on range of movement.

Return to sport at 5-6 months and contact sport soon afterwards.

This timeline is dependant on the quality of rehab, the individuals discipline and motivation, their unique circumstances and complications.

Most surgeons would like to see their work relatively protected for 9 months post op.

Balance got world class judo player Winnie Gordon competing in European champs at 5.5 months but that is rare. He went in to surgery on with a good level of preinjury knee strength which gave him a useful functional reserve.

Like every injury ones success is dependent on quality of training, movement, control and motivation.

At Balance we use tools that provide results, consequently we have a vast array of “toys” to work on specific weaknesses identified in our clients. There are some tools that we use over and over again, equipment that makes rehab more effective for a variety of reasons. one such reason is the ability to introduce something as early within the rehab process as possible to familiarise a client with the tool and also because we use equipment that is scalable – it can be used with more or less intensity depending on the stage of development a client has achieved.

For example Trigger Point Performance Therapy (TPT) and Alter-G partial weight bearing treadmill are used at very early stages in ACL rehab, CrossCore180 and kettlebells arent far behind. We make use of all of our available space: in Clapham and Fulham we have 1,000s of square feet of space to utilise and matted areas for essential ground work.

When an individual has focussed on prevention (prehab) prior to their current injury (remember there is no such thing as invulnerable) their subsequent recovery is much faster. Such prehab involves a mindful approach to movement skills, joint mobility, intelligent recovery following practice/training/competition: sports massage, self massage (Trigger Point Performance Therapy), hydration and nutrition, good quality sleep, stress management (mental and emotional).

As for Lucas, he and Liverpool are now considering when last season’s player of the year should undergo surgery.

The team at Balance are exceptionally experienced at treating ski and winter sports injuries. Not only do several members of the team ski but all are experienced in treating Orthopaedic injuries. So if you have hurt your knee and ruptured your ACL or torn your mensicus then we can help. Or you may simply want to know what exercises you do to strengthen you legs before go, book a session with one of our experienced personal trainers.

Ski boot or board shoes not fitting well? Come and see our Sports and Orthopaedic Podiatrist Mick Habgood to get your ski boots perfectly fitted.

Balance Performance Physiotherapy is now in Fulham SW6. Several members of our strong team are working from Fulham including our Clinical Director Graham Anderson and founding members Dr Lucy Goldby and Jonathan Lewis.

Our practice in Fulham is a large studio based in Fitrooms Gym on North End Road. It is easily accessible from Fulham Broadway, Earls Court and West Brompton tube and overground stations. It is also easily accessible if you are coming from Hammersmith, Shepherds Bush or West Kensington.

We have a fantastic studio which is a great space to move in. We also have access to the whole gym so it is a fantastic venue to complete your rehabilitation in.

To book into our Fulham practice call: 020 7627 2308

This Saturday in Edinburgh – Jonathan Lewis, Physiotherapist, Movement Strength and Conditioning coach is teaching alongside Keith Openshaw of Mad Dog Functional Training Sytems the first of a series of workshops they have written for fitness professionals, physiotherapist, sports therapists, osteopaths and chiropractors. Flow Restoration – Kettlebells for Injury Rehabilitation is a 1 day introduction to the subject (though its a subject that you could fill an MSc with).

For an overview of the workshop take a look at the Simple Strength website, our hosts in Edinburgh this Saturday. http://simplestrength.com/workshops-2/

This workshop wil be running in London and the East Midlands soon so if you are interestred in knowing more please contact either Jonathan or Keith.

It can be a roller coaster of an experience to go through the process of rehabilitation following injury or surgery (or both).  Danny is a client at Balance and he  has actually set up his own blog detailing his particular journey.

Kieron Dyer has joined the list of elite performers who are benefiting from the G-trainer. Dyer of West Ham United has recently begun using it as part of his long rehabilitation process following his broken leg during a football match in August 2007. So reports the Evening Standard tonight.

It has been introduced to him by his physiotherapist following a further setback of a stress fracture in his shin.

Balance brought the G-trainer in from the US the same week that Manchester United and Manchester City introduced the anti-gravity treadmill to their players for rehabilitation, strength and conditioning. Our aim is for all those who are not Premiership footballers to take advantage of all that this technology can offer those needing in jury rehabilitation and fitness.

• Speed for all sports
• Strength for all sports
• Power for all sports
• Running performance for every distance from 400 metres to marathon, ultra distance and triathlon.
• Return to all sports after almost any lower limb injury
• Return to running after almosy any lower limb operation
• effective anaerobic intervals even for those who experience joint discomfort with impact

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