Injury Prevention Advice

Shin splints occur along the length of the shin in the lower legs. It can be caused by running too often on concrete or road surfaces or by overstraining of your muscles where they attach to your shin. The most common cause is overuse or overtraining associated with poor foot and leg biomechanics.

Typical repair time:

• Dependent on a number of factors including how long you have had the shin pain for, the extent of tissue damage and the presence of muscle guarding.
• Generally, the outlook is excellent for a full recovery but physical therapy may be necessary to get you back in the game! So don’t leave it too late to see you sports chiropractor

An ankle sprain is a tear of a ligament/s usually on the outside of the ankle. It is one of the most common injuries in hockey. It typically occurs when a player rolls the ankle so that the sole of the foot turns inward.  Swelling, stiffness, bruising and inability to weight bear often come hand in hand with an ankle sprain.  

If you have applied RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation) and the swelling hasn’t gone down or you still can’t weight bear on your foot then it is worth getting assessed by your sports chiropractor to determine the severity of your sprained ankle.

Typical repair time: Once again it depends on the extent of the damage but the average time for ankle ligaments to heal is 6 weeks.  It is important to build the strength in the ankle ligaments and prevent the loss of flexibility in the calf and ankle to avoid re-injury.

Most often ACL tears occur when pivoting or landing from a jump or caused from a sudden cut/stop or a twisting movement. Your knee gives out from under you once you tear your ACL. Female athletes are known to have a higher risk of an ACL tear while participating in competitive sports. About 80% of sports-related ACL tears are "non-contact" injuries.

Typical repair time: Approximately 6-8 weeks. If it’s a grade 1 sprain (overstretched) or grade 2 sprain (partial tear) of the ACL then your Sports Chiropractor can treat your knee with the appropriate immobilisation or bracing, physical therapy and rehabilitation to progressively get you back on the field.

If you have completely torn your ACL then you will need to be referred to an orthopaedic specialist for treatment and unfortunately will have to sit the rest of the season out

When moving side to side a lot of people tend to push off using their inner thigh muscles (adductors) attached to the groin. These muscles are often weaker and are prone to strain if you don’t strengthen and stretch your legs, hips and lower back appropriately.

Typical Repair time: Approximately 3-6 weeks if it is just a muscle or tendon strain. A mild groin strain can take 1-3 weeks with the correct stretching and strengthening program. A more severe strain will take 6 weeks or more and will often require you to stop playing for a short period of time.