INJURIES Running
❤❤ EXPLAINED
This month read our expert’s advice on children getting over injury
O UR EXPERT Graham Anderson is a highly experienced Sports Physiotherapist at Balance Performance Physiotherapy. He has worked for Team GB at the last 3 Olympics and currently with the ATP world tour. He is regarded as one of the country’s most senior physios working with both adults and children.
CHILD INJURY I would say from experience that very few serious injuries occur to children less than 10 years of age. Often the inexperienced physio can over treat the simple traumatic injuries as generally children recover fast with little input. Injuries related to sports fall into two types of trauma:
repetitive trauma and a single traumatic event. Often these injuries are trivialised and the young athlete is encouraged to “toughen up and play through the pain”. This approach is not in the child’s best interest for the following reasons: It often leads to delayed healing and return to sports. It can turn an easily treatable injury into one that becomes difficult to treat. It may result in the child precluded from sports participation.
GETTING OVER INJURY Factors affecting a child sustaining an injury are: 1 Body make up; Body weight; posture and hormones 2 Lack of adequate warm-up 3 In contact sports, the physical maturity of the child compared to opponents. 4 Degree of supervision of children playing sport 5 Lack off protective equipment 6 The amount of sport played – per week and per session
Like us all a child’s body needs time to recover and regenerate from training. When a child is growing recovery is slower due to reduced bone strength. In addition, the growth plates at the end of the bones become extremely vulnerable to external forces. Repetitive, moderate to high-intensity activities can easily overload the musculoskeletal system causing injuries.
Conclusion ■ Generally children recover from sports injuries quickly. They are also less likely to get injured than the adult. ■ Certain injuries tend to occur to certain age groups and sexes. ■ Knee swelling, pain, and loss of function are not normal. ■ Injuries that appear minor can have serious consequences. ■ When in doubt, seek expert medical advice.
Balance Performance Physiotherapy 113 Gauden Road, Clapham, London, SW4 6LE, Tel: 020 76272308 Web:
www.balancephysio.com Online shop:
www.shop.balancephysio.com Facebook: www.facebook. com/BalancePerformanceLondon Twitter:
www.twitter.com/BalancePhysio
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RUNNING TO LEARN A MEDITATION ON THE MOVE
Julia Armstrong is a lifelong runner and all-round running philosopher. She’s run a 2.36 marathon and ranks second in the UK for V50. Every month she shares her thoughts. Catch up at
www.runningtolearn.com
Love in mind
My whole life has been a quest for love – to understand it and express it, feel it, communicate it, receive it and teach it – a lofty quest indeed! But it felt very fitting that as it is Valentine’s Day this month, Nat asked me to write my column with Love in mind! Traditionally Valentine’s
Day was the day when love was celebrated between intimate companions. Although now of course it is more associated with romantic love where lovers exchange gifts and cards and confirm their love for one another.
Relationships at their best should be about love, support and enhanced creativity. Running is an individual sport, but the love that is generated by the groups of people joining together to train and race together is powerful and inspiring. Partaking in a race,
whether as a spectator, supporter or competitor connects us to a profound love, open hearts, free from the constraints of fear that, sadly, often accompany human relations. In its place we see human nature at its best, people striving to be and do more than they have before. Friends and family and strangers connecting in positive and powerful ways that surely model a way of being that could bring about world peace? Equality is found through
a foot race, with paradoxically, only one winner. But everyone taking part, whatever their speed, is a winner of their own race. The singlet and shorts attire equalises us all, no class or gender or standard of living separating us, just a mass of humanity joining together with a common yet simple goal of setting out on a journey at the sound of a claxon. A race represents for me
love in motion, relationship at its purest and most uncomplicated, human beings wanting the best for one another, supporting one another on the lone journey, understanding, not judging. When we face ourselves,
which we cannot fail to do in a foot race, it asks that we love and accept ourselves. We are not a better person if we win or a lesser person if we fail – we are just us, doing our thing, revealing our soul in motion on the running road and connecting and journeying with our fellow human beings in the race of life. Many friendships and bonds are formed on the run, no distractions, no barriers, only the road in front and our friends by our side and wherever love has been shared by a couple or a community the vibration remains, and so running together and loving together is changing the world into a better place.
RUNNERS
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