At The Health Collab, we go beyond working with individuals, and our sports physiotherapy expertise can also help coaches and trainers to develop injury prevention programs for their teams.
This may include identifying areas where the team may be at risk of injury, such as poor conditioning or improper technique, and providing guidance on how to address these issues.
Our team of experienced physiotherapists work with a number of high profile Brisbane sporting teams and schools, working as an extension of the team for match day preparation and treatment in addition to pre and post game treatment in our Spring Hill Clinic.
Megan Hunter has worked as a sports physiotherapist for years and is entering her third season as the North Brisbane Cougars Netball Sports Physiotherapist, however her passion for improving outcomes from Netball injuries extends through all levels of the sport. She has experience as a sports physiotherapist for semi-professional AFL and Rugby Seven’s, as well as treating rugby union, rugby league and many other team athletes in the clinic.
Throughout Megan’s sports physiotherapy experience, she has discovered that no two injuries are the same. Correct diagnosis, the highest quality rehab, and return to sport testing will ensure you’re back competing as soon as possible while simultaneously decreasing the likelihood of recurrence.
Some of the most common injuries we see are ankle and knee (specifically ACL) injuries. Megan has experience as a sports physiotherapist in implementing both the Netball KNEE and the Footy First (AFL) injury prevention programs and can be available to go through this program with coaches, players and parents at any time.
The transition from the end of rehabilitation into regular training can be difficult especially when there is communication needed with your coach and strength and conditioning coach.
With experience working in that team environment, Megan can communicate clearly with coaches about parts of training that need to be returned to with care.
Due to the cost of surgery, the time out of sport and the risk of recurrence the focus in ACL injuries is to emphasise injury prevention – trying to reduce the risk of this injury happening in the first place. Luckily enough, Megan has experience as a sports physiotherapist in implementing highly effective injury prevention programs.
In AFL, muscle injuries are highly prevalent, with hamstring and calf muscle injuries taking out the top two most common injuries in the 2020 AFL season. As well as being the most common injury hamstring injuries caused the most missed games with an average 15 matches missed per club. Both muscles have a high risk of recurrence and require an in-depth understanding of the type of injury for appropriate treatment and correct advice on how long the injury will take to recover.
The transition from the end of rehabilitation into regular training can be difficult especially when there is communication needed with your coach and strength and conditioning coach. With experience working in that team environment, Megan can communicate clearly with coaches about parts of training that need to be returned to with care and since Megan is a Level 1 ASCA Strength and Conditioning Coach, she can help transition back to high level performance training.
The Health Collab offers a number on ongoing and as-required therapy options for Sports Team. We can assist with:
Don’t ignore that ankle injury!
While ankle injuries are often thought of as easy injuries to return from, recent research suggests that up to one third of individuals that experience a lateral ankle sprain (where the ankle “rolls”) go onto develop chronic ankle instability in the next 12 months. While not all the reasons why this happens are known, there is also an interesting statistic that less than 50% of people seek medical treatment following an ankle sprain.
Correct diagnosis is essential as different types of ankle sprains e.g. a lateral ankle sprain versus a syndesmosis injury, require very different management plans, including sometimes onwards referrals for imaging/orthopaedic opinions. With the combination of correct diagnosis, good quality rehabilitation and thorough return to sport testing, risk of recurrence can be decreased.
ACL injuries - what you need to know to prevent them (and how to rehab when ruptured)
Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries are in the nightmares of most team sports players. The ACL is a large ligament in the knee that helps connect the thigh bone (femur) and the leg bone (tibia) and essentially reduces the amount of forward motion the tibia has. This ligament can be injured (and ruptured) during both contact and non-contact sports, is more common in female athletes and generally results in an extended time away from sport. In fact, research suggests that even after surgery to repair the ligament, it is safer to return to sport at least 9 months post-surgery, even if you are completing excellent rehabilitation with Megan.
Due to the cost of surgery, the time out of sport and the risk of recurrence the focus in ACL injuries is to emphasise injury prevention – trying to reduce the risk of this injury happening in the first place.
Brisbane's best sport physiotherapy clinic.
