Treatments

Sports Massage

Sports massage is the term applied to the discipline of using massage for the specific benefit of all sports participants. It covers the management, manipulation, and rehabilitation of the soft tissue of the body. Throughout all aspects of sport the participant can have sports massage administered during conditioning, training, pre/inter or post competition, post-travel, injury prevention and injury recovery.

The aim of sports massage is to optimise sports performance. It does this by: assisting in the recovery of serious training or competition; improving metabolic imbalances; reducing oedema; increasing a joint range of motion; keeping soft tissues in a healthy state; helping with pain relief; inducing a relaxed mind set. Please be aware that we cannot perform sports massage if you have skin infections, DVT, varicose veins, tumours, undiagnosed lumps, melanoma or other cancers. If you are suffering from an injury or experiencing pain then it is appropriate to book in for a physiotherapy assessment prior to any sports massage treatments.

Joint Mobilisations / Manipulation

Manual therapy is any hands-on treatment provided by your physiotherapist. Treatment may include moving joints in specific directions and at different speeds to regain movement and reduce pain or stiffness. These treatments include joint mobilisation, manipulation, and muscle stretching.

After a thorough examination, and reasoning to establish the best possible treatment, and with your consent the physiotherapist may perform a joint manipulation or mobilisation.

Exercise Therapy

Exercise Therapy is physical rehabilitation exercise designed and prescribed by your physiotherapist for specific therapeutic goals. It is heavily evidence based and its purpose is to work towards the restoration of normal musculoskeletal function at joint or a muscle.

The aim is to restore movement, build strength, improve co-ordination, increase muscular endurance and reduce the chance of re-injury. At ESP we use exercise therapy as part of your treatment plan to rehabilitate injuries, and restore full function, so don’t be surprised if we ask you to perform a series of rehab exercises in the clinic when you come to see us or give you exercises as ‘homework’. All injuries happen for a reason, and the ultimate goal here is to address these issues so that it doesn’t happen again!

Acupuncture / Dry Needling

Acupuncture is a modality that is now being used in Western medicine to treat pain. Conventional acupuncture involves the use of single-use, pre-sterilised disposable needles of varying widths, lengths and materials that pierce the skin at the acupuncture points. Your physiotherapist will determine the locations of these points on the basis of an assessment of the cause of the pain. A number of needles may be used during each treatment, and these are typically left in position for between 20 and 30 minutes before being removed.

Trigger point acupuncture may also be used to facilitate relaxation in specific muscles following trauma, for longer-term unresolved muscle pain, or as a means of increasing muscle length in order to aid stretch and rehabilitation. Trigger point needling often produces an effect much more quickly, and therefore, does not require the 20–30-minute treatment time.

Taping

Tape is commonly used by physiotherapists to improve joint stability, enhance athlete confidence, reduce injury risk, and relieve your pain. There are different kinds of tape that can be employed by your physiotherapist: Rigid strapping tape commonly used in taping or strapping is often referred to as “sports tape” or “athletic tape” and is most often a rigid style of strapping tape; Elastic strapping tape can also be used when less rigidity or support is required; Kinesiology tape is an improved version of elastic sports tape that acts to dynamically assist your muscle function.

At ESP we use taping as part of a treatment plan that will include rehabilitation exercises and possibly other forms of treatment to help you achieve your goals.

Electro Physical Agents

EPA or Electrotherapy is the use of mechanical, light or electrical energy as a treatment. In physiotherapy, EPA can apply to a variety of treatments, including Ultrasound, Laser, Shock-wave Therapy, Muscle Stimulators, TENS and more.

There is evidence that these types of treatments can, in conjunction with a comprehensive physiotherapy treatment program, help relief pain and accelerate the recovery of neuromusculoskeletal injuries.

At ESP we use muscle stimulators along with physical therapy skills for both pain management, and rehabilitation.

Currently we do not use Ultrasound, Laser, or Shock-wave Therapy in our clinics but these can be arranged via the Orthopaedic specialists we work with.

Inversion Therapy

Inversion therapy is a traction treatment modality for opening up the weight bearing joints of the lumbar spine, hips, knees and ankles. It involves hanging upside down on a machine that then takes gravitational pressure off the joint cartilage, nerve roots and disks. Due to the nature of hanging upside down with the head in a down position it’s not for anyone with high blood pressure, heart disease or glaucoma.

Well-designed studies evaluating spinal traction have found the technique ineffective for long-term pain relief. However, some people find traction temporarily helpful as part of a more comprehensive physiotherapy treatment program for lower back pain caused by spinal disk compression.

Mind Skills Training

Mind skills training (MST) is a hugely under rated element when recovering from injury. Essentially it involves highlighting issues or ‘bugs’ in a patients mind set that are limiting their performance or return to sport after suffering an injury. Once these issues are highlighted then a management plan, and strategies to resolve them can begin. MST helps you prepare mentally, so that you are at your most confident, and can perform at your best consistently.

Using an MST ‘toolbox’ of techniques it helps the patient to deal with pressure situations, anxiety, dips in sports performance, and confidence issues. In sports performance to often athletes wait until they have a problem before seeking help. ESP equip athletes with the tools to deal with these situations before they impact performance.

Strength & Conditioning

Strength and Conditioning is a style of athletic coaching, and training that has grown in some popularity over the last few years. Essentially it is the physical, and physiological development of athletes for elite sport performance. Our role as S&C coaches is to pass the theory of sports science, and sport specific training to the athletes, helping them to maximise their full athletic potential. S&C can help anyone.

The end goal is that clients become fitter, faster, stronger, more powerful, more agile, more co-ordinated, and have maximal conditioning to optimise performance and reduce the risk of injury.