MEMPHIS, Tenn. — As students head back to school, student athletes are preparing to compete again. Injuries may hold a student athlete back and it may lead them to a physical therapy office. ABC24 spoke with Kylle Colquhoun, Clinical Director of Memphis Physical Therapy, about some of the common injuries they see and how to prevent them.
Question: What are some of the kind of most common sports injuries that you guys tend to take care of at Memphis Physical Therapy?
Answer: So by far, I think the most common one; ankle sprains. Obviously, those ankle joints are used for everything you do basketball, soccer, football, you name it; a lot of pressure put on the ankle joint. And knee sprains again are common, especially with soccer season starting up again, we see a lot of knee sprains. And on the back end of baseball season, plenty of shoulder and elbow issues too.
Q: How do you all go about making sure athletes know the best ways to take care of themselves?
A: Education is key. I think a lot of these high level athletes they have, you know, sports directors who work with them on their teams, but outside of school, what you're doing at home is also important. Not just strengthening mobility, range of motion, things like that, but also things such as things often overlooked, you know, diet, sleep, important aspects of the recovery program
Q: For athletes who have been injured or are recovering from surgery, what are some common mistakes you see in people who are trying to recover and get back to their normal routine?
A: I think the worst was definitely returning to activity too quickly, or return to a strength that they were doing or intensity, I should say, prior to that. For you guys, you know who were benching 300 pounds, if you get injured, I've had lay off from doing that activity. Don't expect to go straight back in at 300 pounds, you got to build up the progression slowly. Start off, go back in minimum weight to begin with 100 pound bench. That's what you want. Once you're able to complete that one, then you can move up but slow progression is key. Same with warming up often people go back to activities too soon without an effective warmup.
Q: Anything about injury recovery or injury prevention you'd like to add?
A: Don't just focus on single muscle groups when you're working out. They are important you want to work the quads whenever the hamstrings, but also works on multiple muscle group exercises, or any helps improve balance and core which is going to be effective for stabilizing those joints.