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by MARK POWELL
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The boys (and girls) of summer are back with a vengeance. These long, lazy days make many people hit their respective playing fields of choice in the hopes of winning competitions, improving their cardiovascular health or just blowing off a little steam.
“Things have ramped up for the fall seasons,” noted Samuel Baker, Rehab Clinical Supervisor for Lexington Health’s Sports Medicine program. “Families go on vacations and then they try to get back out there without adequately preparing. With travel sports and leagues, we have adults and kids who are playing all the time. There’s year-round baseball, year-round volleyball, year-round soccer, and flag football teams now with seven-on-seven competition. And football players are training, getting ready for the fall season.”
All too often, that diversity of physical activity can lead to common ailments: strains, sprains, and other varieties of athletic injuries.
When that happens, caregivers like Baker spring into action. And no, you don’t need to be a pro or college star to need their services. Amateurs and weekend warriors do, too. Even younger, healthier ones.
“High school students, as they grow and they get bigger – and as they try to develop better coordination and better power – see their bodies start to wear down a lot quicker than they should,” Baker explains. “For a high school kid at that age, the off-season should be all about recovery and rebuilding. If we skip that process, it can create a ticking time bomb for something down the road that could either take you out for the full season – or take you out for your entire career – depending on whether it’s your first injury, second injury, or third injury.”
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Regardless of what stage in life your playing career is at, Baker says the most important thing when dealing with any type of sports-related injury is time.
“Don’t wait to get help,” he said. “Get it checked out. Injuries are a very common occurrence. None of us is bulletproof or invincible. So if you get hurt doing what you love doing, and it lingers more than a couple of days, we always recommend having it looked at. Get somebody who’s medically trained and who understands the musculoskeletal system to have a look at it and make sure it’s nothing serious.”
Good news for athletes dealing with strains, sprains and other aches? There’s no need to worry about getting a referral from your doctor first.
“In South Carolina, we’re lucky in that we have direct access for physical therapy,” Baker said. “So if you roll your ankle, tweak your hamstring, move your shoulder, or slightly group position, you can call a PT clinic and set up an evaluation. You don’t have to wade through that process of appointments and authorizations. We can often see you that same day – if people have that availability. Early intervention is the most important part of addressing these issues, enabling us to get our patients started on the right exercises and stretches as quickly as possible.”
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What type of sports injuries do physical therapists see most frequently during the summer months?
“We see a lot of ACL reconstructions, knee surgeries, meniscus repairs and bone fractures,” Baker said. “We’ll see a lot of shoulder labral and rotator cuff tears, especially among overhead athletes including our baseball, volleyball, and basketball players. I’ve even had several soccer goalies with shoulder repair, too. And back strains, depending on where they are in their training or what type of training they’re doing. Those are the big ones.”
And what about the so-called weekend warrior, who sits behind a desk all day and then hits the field hard on weekends?
“If you’re working nine-to-five, you get home, and you don’t do anything else but get on the couch – then absolutely those weekend warrior activities will catch up to you very quickly,” Baker said. “But there are things you can do to help yourself. Take thirty minutes to do some light flexibility, something like light yoga or Pilates. Anything that promotes flexibility and restores range of motion is going to be beneficial.”
Whenever something goes wrong on the playing field, Baker says the first thing to do is to distinguish between soreness and genuine pain.
“Uncertainty is part of what drives delays in care,” he said. “Usually, if it’s more than just a little soreness, there’s a reason behind it. If you’ve been out in the yard working all day and really pushed yourself, you feel a little stiff and a little tight – but nothing’s stopping you from moving. If it’s a pain that stops you from moving as freely as you want to, though, or if it doesn’t get better with movement or even with a hot shower or rest – or if it continue to get worse – then it’s usually the type of pain that’s telling you to get checked out sooner rather than later.”
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The important thing, Baker emphasizes, is to make sure you get the right kind of care after you’re injured.
“There’s a proper way to get back on the field,” he said. “Too often people assume ‘I don’t have pain anymore, therefore I’m good to go.’ But in our program we check all the boxes – range of motion, flexibility, etc. – but we’re also making sure to test your strength. We’re comparing the limb that underwent surgery to the limb that didn’t. Because if you don’t restore the strength – and you get back on the field before you establish proper strength levels – then your risk of injury and re-injury goes back up.”
So, remember, when pain strikes and you wonder if you need to see a physical therapist, always follow a sporting footwear brand’s famous advice: Just do it.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
J. Mark Powell is an award-winning former TV journalist, government communications veteran, and a political consultant. He is also an author and an avid Civil War enthusiast. Got a tip or a story idea for Mark? Email him at mark@fitsnews.com.
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