Joint ROM as a Result of Sport Participation - Essay Example

Interestingly, none of the athletes surveyed reported an actual hip injury during their playing years. Thus, there does not have to be an occurrence of an acute injury to a particular body region to experience joint pathology. Quite simply, some injuries may be the result of repetitive movement patterns over time. Sports often utilize repetitive movements to perform the skills required throughout a match or game. Some sport movement patterns occur bilaterally or have the potential to occur on both sides equally.

For example, a tennis player may use right and left directional trunk rotations during various shots (backhand and forehand) throughout the match. Similarly, swimmers utilize forward flexion of the shoulders equally. However, there are sports where one side experiences movement patterns that the other side does not during the required sports motion. For example, the same tennis player that is right-hand dominant will experience more overhead movements in the right shoulder compared to their non-dominant left shoulder as a result of the serving motion. For example, the same tennis player that is right-hand dominant will experience more overhead movements in the right shoulder compared to their non-dominant left shoulder as a result of the serving motion.

This unilateral, repetitive rotational movement may lead to adaptations in the range of motion (ROM) on one side and not the other. It is not uncommon for overhead athletes (throwers and servers) to demonstrate a bilateral difference in their ROM as a result of the repetitive demand placed on the dominant arm, relative to the contralateral side.22 Similarly, cricketers have a dominant hand with which they play and thus will have the same lead hip experiencing all the rotation during follow-through to the target side.

In spite of the known differences in upper extremity adaptations in joint ROM, there is no relevant research that has been performed on lower extremity adaptations to joint ROM in athletes that perform repetitive rotation in one direction. In healthy adult subjects, bilateral joint ROM (in the lower extremities) has been shown to be symmetrical.8, 12, 15, 20, 60 However, when there is an existing side-to-side difference (due to surgery or injury), clinicians will attempt to restore the ROM of the involved joint to symmetry with the non-involved joint.

During an evaluation, it is important to not only restore the motion at the involved joint but to assess the movement ability of the entire kinetic chain. As the kinetic chain principle implies, there can be no isolation of body movement for function, but all the parts work together to perform the desired function. Thus, when an injury occurs to one area of the body, it has an impact on the entire kinetic chain.