Our bodies are made to move, which makes injuries inevitable. In fact, everybody is affected by some sort of injury at one point in their lives.
Some injuries are fatal, others causing long term conditions and disabilities and others treatable with pain management, and specialised exercises and programs.
Some ways we can look after our bodies to prevent injuries or lessen the impact is by pre-screening.
What is a Pre-Screening?
When looking to get into exercise, start a new job which may be labor intense or are worried about your capacity to move, a pre-screen will allow you to know what your body triggers are.
A physiotherapist will assess your body for high-risk regions.
This will involve looking into:
- Postural abnormalities
- Running/Walking patterns
- Muscle strength and joint flexibility
- Falls prevention for older patients.
Some basic ways to prevent injury is to do some or all of the following:
- Do not continue to play through pain – you will only be prolonging recovery time and this means less time on the field and more on the sideline.
- Take breaks.
- Increase mobility and flexibility with regular exercise – 30-60 minutes a day is all it takes.
- Incorporate strength training into your exercise regime.
- REST REST REST – listen to your body when it is telling you to stop or slow down.
