Heel Pain: Don't let Sever's stop you playing sport

Kinetic Sports Physiotherapy welcomes James Alexander to the team.

James has many years of professional experience in sports and musculoskeletal physiotherapy, clinical pilates, performance strength and conditioning, and has worked extensively with athletes from various sports including sprinting, distance running, Australian rules football and soccer.

Through further study and personal sporting pursuits, James has developed particular interest and skill in the diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of running related injuries, hip and groin pain, and lower limb tendon injuries. He is also an accredited ASCA Level 1 Strength and Conditioning Coach and Clinical Pilates instructor.       

As a past national level 800m runner James has a unique insight into what is required to overcome injury and return to competing at a high level. He draws on these experiences to ensure every patient receives an individualised and comprehensive management plan.

James’ passion for helping his patients achieve their physical and health related goals led him to commence a Masters of Sports Physiotherapy through Latrobe University, which he will complete in 2018.  

It's pre-season training time and trial games are just around the corner.

Hamstring strain injuries are the most prevalent muscle injury in running sports, and the more time you spend sprinting the more likely you are to injure your hamstring. They generally keep you out of action for 4-6 weeks and if the tendon is involved, even longer. To make matters worse, once you've torn your hamstring, the odds are that you'll do it again. Age is also a major risk factor, but both of these factors can be mitagated with the right strengthening program.

There is good news however! The research world is in agreement that Nordic Curls can build bullet proof hamstrings (those of you that know about Nordic Curls will be already shaking at the thought of them). In fact, Nordic Curls can reduce your risk of tearing your hamstring by 70% and your risk of reinjury by 85% ! That sort of effectiveness is massive for an exercise that is easy to perform.

So, back to pre-season training. Do you know whether you're going to tear you hamstring next season? At Kinetic Sports Physiotherapy we are able to measure your risk using the Nordbord (check it out at www.valdperformance.com, it's pretty cool). The Nordbord hamstring testing system measures your hamstring strength and gives data about each leg in real time. From this we can analyse your risk profile, prescribe an injury prevention program and accurately re-assess your strength over time.

We are the only physiotherapy clinic in Newcastle with this technology. If you feel that you could benefit from testing or know someone that would, send us an email or give us a call!

It's now officially winter sports season, with every code competing last weekend, and with it there's been a spike of kids complaining of sore heels. As well as a lot of kids complaining of sore heels, there's almost as many accurate sideline diagnoses of Sever's disease, the reason being that it's relatively common. 

The literature suggests that up to 15% of active 10-12 year old will experience one or two sore heels during the sporting season, more commonly at the beginning of the season, and in boys more than girls. This age range isn't absolute and can effect boys between 7 and 15 years and girls between 9 and 13 years.

Sever's disease is a term that describes inflammation of the growth plate in the calcaneus (heel), which is a cartilage plate attaching at the top to the Achilles tendon. This growth plate becomes relatively more irritable during growth spurts and when running load has dramatically increased (like the beginning of winter sports season).

The good news however is that it's not all bad news, and that Sever's is not something kids just have to grow out of (which they eventually do when they stop growing). There are a number of known risk factors for Sever's disease; tight calves, weak calves and biomechanics that increase the torsional (twisting) forces through the heel. 

A thorough assessment can help determine your child's modifiable risk factors, develop an exercise program specific to their needs and fit custom-moulded orthotics if needed.