Duchy College Sport Rehabilitation introduction

BTEC students from Duchy College were welcomed to Marjon University for a teaching session on the Principles of Rehabilitation, by the Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation team. 6 students took part in the session, which covered the basic rehabilitation principles, treatments and rehabilitation exercises that could be used within a treatment plan.

The first treatment the students experienced was ICE. After an acute injury, the aim of treatment is to reduce pain, muscle spasm (should it have occurred) and swelling. Ice helps to alleviate these symptoms (Nadler et al., 2004) and when combined with compression further helps the reduction in swelling. Students experienced both the GameReady machine and the Squid machine.

The second treatment modality was the use of Kinesiology Tape (K-tape). K-tape has the potential to alleviate pain (Bassett et al., 2010) and improve healing in soft tissues, by lifting the skin and increasing blood flow. It is a modality that can be used during any stage of rehabilitation. A basic lateral ankle sprain tape was used and the students were able to practice the application on each other and for a first attempt, they all did a very good job! They tested balance on each leg and compared the non-taped to the taped and found there was a difference in balance and how it felt.


From here, the students were introduced to the Anti-Gravity Treadmill. This novel piece of equipment pumps air into the casing surrounding the treadmill, which helps to ‘lift’ some of the weight off the client inside. This can help to promote normal movement patterns and muscular recruitment greater than training in a hydrotherapy environment (Patil et al., 2012). It can be used during all of the stages of rehabilitation and can promote increased performance. Students experienced reduced weight whilst walking and jogging on the treadmill and saw how it changed gait during these activities.

The students were then introduced to exercise rehabilitation. As the focus of the session was a lateral ankle sprain, the students took part in 6 different lower limb exercises. They explored how the exercises could help with an ankle sprain, even if the exercise was not a direct ankle exercise. Progressions and regressions were shown within the exercises and linked to the stages of rehabilitation.

The students had a great time playing with the different equipment and were able to see the benefits of rehabilitation, especially if they stick to the exercises that they have been told to do!

For further information about our BSc Sports Therapy, BSc Rehabilitation in Sport and Exercise or MSc Sport Rehabilitation, please contact Sarah Martin (smartin@marjon.ac.uk) or Vicki Evans (vevans@marjon.ac.uk)

References

Bassett, K.T., Lingman, S.A. and Ellis, R.F. The use and treatment efficacy of kinaesthetic taping for musculoskeletal conditions: a systematic review. New Zealand Journal of Physiotherapy. Vol. 38, No.2: 56-62

Nadler, S.F., Weingand, K. & Kruse, R.J. (2004) The physiologic basis and clinical applications of cryotherapy and thermotherapy for the pain practitioner. Pain Physician. Vol. 7, No. 3: 395–399.

Patil, S., Steklov, N., Bugbee, W.D., Goldberg, T., Colwell, C.W. & D’Lima, D.D. (2013) Anti-gravity treadmills are effective in reducing knee forces. Journal of Orthopaedic Research. Vol. 31, No. 5: 672–679.