Case Study - Hamstring Injury In Semi Professional Footballer
A semi-professional football player had sustained a hamstring injury while reaching with his leg to control a ball. He was managed pitch side by his team physiotherapist and referred for a MRI. On imaging it showed a grade 1-2 tear of the biceps femoris (hamstring) tendon between the long and short head, with a large amount of oedema.
He attended his first session at AquaPhysio, 10 days after the injury with the aim of maintaining cardiovascular fitness through aqua running and also strengthening the injured leg.
He was initially assessed by one of Aqua-Physio’s aquatic physiotherapists who gradually increased the intensity of the aquatic exercises within the sessions to ensure that he was working his cardiovascular system sufficiently but not stressing the healing hamstring tendon.
These sessions comprised of gait re-education; aquatic running; controlled plyometric work and hamstring activation exercises. The aquatic physiotherapist and the team physiotherapist were in close communication throughout the treatment to ensure both water and land rehabilitation were complimenting each other. He made an excellent recovery during this period and felt he had received first rate care.
A successful return to football was managed by the physiotherapy staff at his football club. For sportsmen and women who want to maintain cardiovascular fitness while recovering from an injury that inhibits them from running, this is probably the optimum way in which to manage their injury.
