Dance injury - Dance without pain!

Young children aged 5 to 7 years are often enrolled for dance and rhythmic gymnastics classes. A trained dance tutor or coach individualises the teaching of skills and exercise to ensure that exercises are introduced in stages when the child is stronger. More difficult skills would often require a longer duration to allow the dancer to mature and strengthen adequately while he or she practises diligently.

Dancers who have mild tendon inflammation are often prescribed simple exercises to strengthen the knees and feet while improving the posture and finesse of the art. Kinesiotape is used to assist those who require support to a weak and poorly balanced foot and ankle.

Work closely with your doctor, physiotherapist and dance tutor or coach to ensure that their skills progress without any complications of injury.

For more dance injury references, click here.

Injuries in young athletes and dancers

Young athletes and dancers often suffer from injury in the knees and foot due to excessive loading of the lower limb (e.g. long distance running, badminton, gymnastics, weightlifting). These injuries are often caused by a mismatch between the bone and muscle growth. These athletes would require a more gentle approach with the introduction of physical activity and skills. Some athletes who resort to excessive jumping and weightlifting may also suffer from low back pain due to degenerative changes in the vertebra of the spine.

Most of these injuries may be resolved by taking the athlete off such exercises for several weeks followed by careful gradual reintroduction of safe exercises. Consult your doctor if you need help.

Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year!

Wishing all the friends and clients, A Blessed Christmas and A Happy New Year! There are many more sporting events for the year 2011. Do keep up the fitness with some maintenance exercise until then. Do not overtrain but keep up the positive spirit and God bless you!

Lecture Series 2: Low Back Pain

Find out why people get low back pain and how to sort them out without a whole lot of trouble. Fimd out what needs expert intervention by your family physician, sports doctor, orthopaedic surgeon, physiotherapist or massage therapist*.

Date:    18th September 2010

Time:    2.00pm - 3.00pm

Venue:  Dr Aston Sports Clinic

If you are a parent, athlete, patient, working person, or therapist, you may be interested in attending this lecture. Call Ms Chooi at 03-78774399 to book in advance as we are limited to 30 places only. Registration is Free.

*This lecture is not designed to replace your doctor's advice or consultation

Shoe and Foot woes

Does everyone with a flat foot need a pair of expensive shoes or insoles? Does that mean that if I have knee pain, shin pain, hip pain or foot pain, I definitely need something fancy? Can I get a pair of footwear that would sort out every problem in the lower limb? Do I need to walk or run barefoot?

These are some questions that patients ask. My answer would be simple.
1. What kind of animal are you? Do you walk, run, jump, cycle, climb or etc?
2. Do you have an injury that requires sorting out?
3. Do you fancy getting a cut running barefoot on the road?
4. Do you want something that fits all your shoes? (If there's such an insole)

Tell us what you really want and we will try to sort it out for you!

Sports Massage for Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness

If you have done a workout or training and you seem sore the next day, you may need a sports massage. If you've planned your training and prepared well, you could avoid the ache. Often the soreness is non-specific but more focused on the muscles you have worked very heavily. Do check with your doctor or physiotherapist to rule out a muscle injury and if you need more help, get a sports massage.

Don't give up on your workout with your trainer!

Early return to sports?

Research has been carried out using various methods of injection techniques, surgical intervention and rehabilitation methods for ligament tears, muscle strains and tendon ruptures. Many of these research has the intention of shortening the duration of return to sports for the injured athlete.

Every injured athlete would love to return to training or play as soon as they can. Some may be concerned about the safety of doing so prematurely as they may not be strong enough or having the necessary balance and coordination required for play. Some professional athletes have been troubled by incessant injuries which recur almost every season due to injuries which have not adequately recovered.

Here are a few rules that you can follow to determine whether it is safe to return:
1. Pain-free full range of movement
2. Able to carry the weight of the body or sporting equipment without pain
3. Able to perform the skills required for the sports without pain
4. Completed the necessary rehabilitation program
5. Certified fit by the sports physician or physiotherapist after conducting a series of tests

Check with your doctor or therapist before you return to sports!

Low Back Pain - Keeping it from spoiling everything

Some sports enthusiasts suffer from very debilitating low back pain. Despite trying all sorts of ways to sort it out, nothing seemed to work. If the low back pain does not involve a fracture or nerve compression, it may resolve with a careful diagnoses followed by electrotherapy and rehabilitation exercises. Even those with mild disc prolapse could recover significantly to enjoy an active lifestyle. Once you are pain-free you need to ensure that you avoid obvious actions which could cause the injury to recur.

It doesn't mean that if you have low back pain, you need to live with it for life. Ask your doctor for advice and seek professional help. You may be able to keep it from spoiling everything!

Treating the cause...

It is often that one would find a swelling like this (see photo) and would not have had any falls or twists in the joints or limbs. Often it could be due to unaccustomed activity (e.g. sudden increase in training load) and an abnormal gait or poor footwear. If given the proper evaluation, it would be possible to rectify some of the causes to prevent re-injury.