Orthopaedic and Sports Physiotherapists - Coursework Example

Orthopaedic & Sports Physiotherapists Introduction A physiotherapist is a healthcare professional who works on the function and movement of the person suffering from a musculoskeletal injury. The usual role of the physiotherapist is to restore the movements by manipulation of the joints and elements of the musculoskeletal system. Currently, physiotherapy is known as a full-fledged and distinct branch in the field of medical sciences. With vast body of knowledge at its disposal, it has further bifurcated in many separate sub-branches that include orthopaedic and sports physiotherapies. Physiotherapists whether working for orthopaedic or sports speciality invariably possess a good understanding of human anatomy, kinesiology, pharmacology and biomechanics. The paper attempts to compare and contrast the roles of physiotherapist, the skills required and the challenges faced by physios across two clinical specialities namely orthopaedics and sports physiotherapy. Physiotherapy – A Regulated Profession in UK An orthopaedic physiotherapist works closely with the physician who has diagnosed a specific physical condition and tries to correct it restoring the normalcy in the movements of the affected part. A sport physiotherapist works with coaches or trainers guiding sports person to either prevent injuries or restore the normalcy after injury. ‘Physiotherapy’ in the UK is controlled and regulated by Health Professional Council (HPC). It is illegal to put the title ‘Physiotherapist’ unless one is registered with the HPC. Registration is provided to those persons who posses professional qualification and fulfill other conditions (Health Professional Council, 2012). Orthopaedic Physiotherapist versus Sports Physiotherapist Orthopaedic physiotherapy mainly deals with musculoskeletal illness and injury with the aim of rehabilitation. This specifies that orthopaedic physiotherapists are involved in restoring muscular sprains or ruptures, broken bones and joints. The role of an orthopaedic physiotherapist is to improve the quality of life of the injured or affected person by restoring movement, mobility, and confidence in them. Pain being a major issue in such cases, a physiotherapist manages it by various techniques such as massage, hydrotherapy, electrotherapy or through manipulation. The functional rehabilitation is the ultimate goal of orthopaedic physiotherapist. Orthopaedic physiotherapist resorts to various options including active and passive exercises. Active exercises focus on joints and muscles against applied weight creating resistance. Thus, muscles are provided strength and joints are mobilised improving coordination. They also employ machines to provide passive movements to joints. Electrical muscle stimulation is yet another way of activating muscle and joint movement (Orthopaedic Physiotherapy 2012). Over the last few decades, sports activities have increased manifold and so the sports injuries. Sports physiotherapists job starts from treating a rugby players strained neck or footballer’s twisted ankle. Athletics being a great sport now, the need of a physiotherapist has been imminent. Many earn their livelihood from sporting activities and they constantly need support of a good sport physiotherapist to take care of injuries and restore them into action within minimal time. The role of sports physiotherapist is to focus on injuries that a sportsperson might get inflicted with. The first and foremost role of the sports physiotherapist is to guide the sportsperson in their activities so that they do not get any injuries. That is to say, sports physiotherapist focuses on the preventive measures to keep the sportsperson free from body injuries; however, their role does not end there. They also provide therapeutic ways and procedures to cure the sportsperson on getting injured. Some of the common injuries that sports physio comes across are sprains and strains, swollen muscles, knee injuries, fractures, pain, tendon injuries, dislocations. Most of these injuries are acute in nature but occasionally it may fall into a chronic category. Chronic injuries also happen due to a prolonged sporting activity that has symptoms of a pain while exercising or playing, swelling at affected part or could be just a dull aching while resting (Sports Injuries 2009). Rotator cuff injury is typically found in weight lifters. Neck injuries usually occur in impact sports such as rugby, soccer. Whiplash, and Wryneck are the typical kinds of neck injuries noticed in sports persons. Some of the neck injuries are caused by over exertion of the neck in an unstable way or due to improper posture. Overtraining is the cause of Spondylosis – a common back injury in sportspersons. The knowledge and the support of sports physiotherapist become extremely necessary for any sportsperson to develop and perform successfully (Sports Physiotherapy 2012). Skills Needed by Orthopaedic Physiotherapist Orthopaedic physiotherapist needs to tackle musculoskeletal problems. Bones and joints are most prone to damage and most activities largely depend upon them, but it is the skeletal system coupled with many other components that facilitate a broad range of movements. In the list of these components are ligaments that connect one bone with another, tendons that connect bone with muscles, cartilage that reduces friction between two bones and finally the synovial fluid that works as lubricant to facilitate a movement between two bones. Fractures varying from a simple crack in the bone to the complex fractures leaving many fragments in bones are the most common conditions that any orthopaedic physiotherapist will come across; however, some of the other prominent conditions where orthopaedic physiotherapist may get involved can be as per the following. 1. Post-operative rehabilitation 2. Roadside accidents resulting to physical trauma 3. Rehabilitation after reconstruction surgery to restore functional movements Rehabilitation being the major goal of orthopaedic physiotherapist, they may employ different treatment routes. This involves removing stiffness and working towards attaining range of movements gradually but keeping in mind not to overwork them. In this process, physiotherapists use various tools at their disposal such as splints or braces to facilitate sufficient movement at the beginning. This is usually followed by resistance training by using resistance bands or small weights. Applying appropriate resistance to the movements not only strengthen the affected and injured muscles but also of surrounding area. They bring stability and balance in the affected part by resorting to underwater exercises. This brings recovery and prevents getting repeat injury (Orthopaedic Physiotherapy 2012). Orthopaedic physiotherapy can be bifurcated into two based on the severity of ailment. Short-Term Physiotherapy Patients In this category are the patients found with minor lesions involving soft tissue injuries or simple fractures and orthopaedic physiotherapist may treat them as an outpatient for a short period. Long-Term Physiotherapy Patients More complicated ailments of the musculoskeletal origin, major fractures such as spine or hip resulting into severe complications and disability that needs surgical intervention fall in this category. Such patients will need an extensive long-term physiotherapy. The approach here will be different than the one provided with short-term cases. Depending upon the surgical procedures involved and the prognosis of recovery, the cases here can fall into two categories. In the first category are those patients, which have a good chance of recovery following a surgery and they will be provided with extensive physiotherapy sessions for a fixed period. In the second category are those cases who have permanent damage and recovery chances are not very strong. This group too needs vigorous physiotherapy but they are provided with compensatory mechanism to restore the functionality (Joshi & Kotwal, 1999 p.1-2). Skills Needed By Sports Physiotherapist As such there is no standard rule to decide about the kind of injury that a particular sport can inflict upon a sportsperson; however, as a general way of happenings, sports persons are found to have various strains, sprains, injury due to pulled muscles. Fractures, torn tendons and ligaments are also part of injuries found in sportspersons. Skills of the sports physiotherapist are a bit different and much of the efforts are directed towards advising sportspersons time to time. How to perform during practice sessions maintaining specific posture so that injuries could be prevented or how to stretch swiftly to keep muscles, ligaments and tendons supple and warm are examples of the advices that become mantra for the most sportspersons. Blood flow is crucial for functioning and maintenance of muscles and that is why sports physio provides deep tissue messages to prevent injuries and to keep the muscle flexible and healthy. Similarly, it is equally important to know how to strengthen a range of muscles related to specific sporting activities. Each sport has specific kinds of injuries according to the nature of sports. For example, Tennis elbow is a stereotype of tennis players. Sports such as soccer or rugby would have injuries due to collisions with other players. Sports such as cycling, swimming or running would have injuries due to overtraining – beyond bodys ability to cope. Shin splints is a kind of injury found to be affecting more to the runners where they are found to have micro-fractures on the surface of their shin due to perennial impact of the feet on the ground. Having deep insight about the probable injuries, sports physio decides about the same from their past experiences and vast knowledge of physiology (Sports Physiotherapy 2012). Future Challenges before Orthopaedic Physiotherapist Medical science is evolving rapidly and so are the treatment procedures. Orthopaedic physiotherapy, as a distinct clinical practice, can provide a new vision to treat coronary artery disease. The dietary regulations and exercise regime play key roles in the prevention of cardiac ailments. Joshi and Kotwal (1999) argue that cardiopulmonary conditioning (CPC) along with planned exercises can provide a cardiac care much effectively. What they call the cardiopulmonary conditioning (CPC) is a procedure based on exercise that results in the improvement of pulmonary and cardiac efficiency. It aims at inhaling sufficient oxygen and transporting it to the working muscles. CPC provides benefits not only to the various systems of the body but also enhances the physiological parameters of complete cardio-pulmonary process. CPC provides muscular strength and endurance, improves the flexibility of muscles and joints and brings about neuro-muscular coordination. Thus, integrating CPC with the orthopaedic physiotherapy can help prevent cardiovascular and muscuto-skeletal problems. The author argues that the principles of CPC can easily be incorporated in routine orthopaedic physiotherapy to devise benefits in the cardiac and pulmonary functions as well. These are certainly new challenges for an orthopaedic physiotherapist in the years to come (Joshi & Kotwal, 1999 p. 6). Future Challenges before Sports Physiotherapist The world is getting crazy about sports and games. People want to see their favourite players and teams in the winning spree always. Sporting activities have increased manifold in the last few decades and so injuries in sports. At times, the large amounts and pride are at stake. The recent news about Chris Smalling, an English defender in the Manchester United, being ruled out of the European Championship for getting affected with a groin injury is a pointer. Before that Danny Welbeck suffered an ankle injury during one of the match. Such incidents put huge pressures on sports physio to devise new ways and means to safeguard their players and performers from the injuries. Injuries take time to heal and by that time sporting events may get over. In the major sporting events such as Olympics, this becomes all the same more crucial when a star performer gets injured during training sessions and remains out of tournament and competition. That is not surprising that sports physio feel the pinch of pressure and future challenges much intense than their counter parts (Blood-Smyth, 2012). Conclusion From the above, it is amply clear that physios across two clinical specialities namely orthopaedics and sports have distinct standings on their own. With the passage of time and advancement in medical science, their importance has increased several folds. It is certain that both of the specialities will strive in their own areas in the future. Bibliography Blood-Smyth, J. (2012), The Physiotherapy site, 10 World Cup Injuries You Can Have for Yourself, Available from: [accessed 14May, 2012] Health Professions Council (2012). About us. Available from: [accessed 14May, 2012] Joshi, J., Kotwal, P. (1999). Essentials of orthopaedics and applied Physiotherapy. Elsevier, Noida, Print Orthopaedic Physiotherapy (2012), UK HealthCentre, Available from: [accessed 14May, 2012] Sports Injuries (2009), National Institute of Health, Available from: [accessed 14May, 2012] Sports Physiotherapy (2012), UK HealthCentre, Available from: [accessed 14May, 2012] Read More