Injury Prevention in Sport & Assessing Risk with VALD
Injuries are SO common, but they don’t have to be. The key is risk assessment, and a targeted, individual approach to preventing injuries. Seeing a physiotherapist is an excellent place to start. Want to know why? Keep reading.
Injury Screening During Preseason: A Vital Step in Preventing Injuries
As athletes start to prepare for an upcoming season, getting a preseason injury screening can be a valuable investment for people looking to enhance performance and prevent possible injuries that could arise. It’s not just about preventing injuries, it’s also about ensuring athletes are set up for optimal performance and an injury free season.
At PhysioWest we believe in being proactive, not reactive! Preseason injury screening is a valuable process that can identify potential risks early to ensure athletes are physically and mentally ready for the demands of their respective sport. In this post, we’ll discuss why injury screening matters, how we perform it, and the positive impact it can have on both an athlete’s performance and health.
Why Injury Screening is Important
Preseason injury screening isn’t just about going through a checklist, it is a massive game-changer. By assessing strength, flexibility, movement patterns, and cognitive health, our physiotherapists can develop an individualised risk profile to identify possible risks before they become serious issues. This gives athletes the best chance of addressing any insufficiencies early to reduce likelihood injuries that could result in lost time in play leaving you on the side later in the season.
Concussions in sports are recognised as an increasingly serious risk which not only affects one’s sporting activity but normal day to day tasks. A baseline testing provides a crucial measure of cognitive function. This enables our physiotherapists to develop safe graduated return to play programs if a head injury does occur.
Key Benefits of Injury Screening
Injury Prevention: Screening helps identify imbalances throughout the body that could lead to potential strains, sprains, or possibly worse injuries.
Enhanced Performance: A body that has been prepared for the athlete’s respective sport is more likely to perform more efficiently.
Safer Return to Play: Preseason screening data including concussion baseline results assist our physiotherapists to determine when it’s safe for athletes to return to play after an injury.
Concussion Baseline Screening
Concussions are a serious injury that can lead to significant loss in time of play, especially in contact sports. Establishing a baseline measure of an athlete’s balance and cognitive function before the season begins is essential. By establishing what’s a normal result for an athlete, if a head injury was to occur any changes can be tracked. This helps our physiotherapist assess the severity of concussions, potential referrals to other disciplines across allied health professionals and guide safe return-to-play decisions.
Understanding What Puts Athletes at Risk
Sport-related injuries can occur for many reasons, and often boils down to a combination of personal and external factors. Common risks factors include:
Previous Injuries: Athletes with a history of injuries are more likely to sustain the same injuries again, or develop new issues in other areas.
Altered Range of Motion and Flexibility: Particularly in sport, having poor or hyper mobility and increased risk of sprains, strains and other injuries.
Strength Imbalances: An injury is more likely to occur if certain muscles are weaker than others. For instance, knee injuries can be associated with poor hip strength.
Poor Movement Patterns: Injuries can result from bad habits that place additional strain on our bodies, especially when considering sports that involve changing of direction and landing.
Concussions and Head Trauma: Previous history of concussions place those athletes at a higher risk of future head injuries, increasing the necessity of gaining a baseline test.
Common Tests We Use During Our Pre-Injury Screening
An effective injury screening involves a comprehensive assessment gathering a background of the athlete and performing athlete specific physical tests to evaluate their health. Key tools include:
Functional Movement Screen (FMS): These tests assess basic movements like squatting, shoulder mobility, and balancing. Poor results can increase an athlete’s risk of sustaining an injury.
Strength Testing (VALD Technology): With cutting-edge VALD technology, our physiotherapists can precisely assess strength and power in key muscle groups like the knees and shoulders. VALD provides detailed data helping to prevent injuries like ACL tears or shoulder strains.
Flexibility Tests: Range of motion tests highlight mobility issues, which can increase the risk of strains or sprains.
Balance and Stability Tests: Balance tests can uncover instability that could lead to injuries such as ankle sprains.
Concussion Baseline Screening: Cognitive assessments using tools such as the SCAT tools measure an athlete’s baseline function and balance. These tests are the gold standard when it comes to managing concussions and ensuring a safe return to sport.
By identifying these risks early on an athlete can address them before they become a significant problem.
What Goes Into Your Injury Prevention Program
When an athlete completes their screening with one of our physiotherapists the data gathered will be used to create a highly specific plan relevant to their sport. The plan will will typically include:
- Strengthening Exercises
- Flexibility and Stretching
- Improving Movement Techniques
- Sport-Specific Conditioning
- Concussion Management
Final message – ‘Get Ahead of the Game—Stay Injury-Free All Season Long’!
Preseason injury screening isn’t just for elite athletes, it is applicable to all levels of participation. It is also an investment in one’s own health and performance.
By identifying potential injury risks early on, our physiotherapists can create an individualised prevention plan that keeps athletes strong, healthy, and ready for competition at all levels.
With advanced technology such as VALD we are confident that we can ensure that athletes are fully prepared to any level of play, both physically and mentally. At PhysioWest, we’re committed to educating and empowering people to stay injury-free and healthy.
Start the season at your best, let’s make this your healthiest and most successful one yet!
To book an consultation with one of our expert physiotherapists, click the link below! Alternatively, give our Client Care Team a call on 8352 3582.
We also offer VALD assessments, that are dedicated to accurate, detail/data-driven assessments that provide the basis for targeted individualised injury prevention programs. Want to know more? Head to this page on our website > https://www.physiowest.net.au/services/vald-assessments/
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