Sports injuries - Ruth Prawer Jhabvala

Written by a professional for the unlucky sportsman, whether professional, competitive or recreational, this book is the first effective guide to coping with injuries and getting back to sport. Vivian Grisogono passes on years of experience as a sports participant and physiotherapist.



Injuries are described 'geographically', from foot to neck, and then down the arm. Arrowed drawings throughout help you identify the site of pain. The causes of injury are explained, to help you understand how and why a particular injury occurs, whether it's a sudden traumatic injury like the sprinter's hamstring tear or the squash player's Achilles tendon rupture, or a gradual overuse injury like tennis elbow or runner's shin soreness. Self-diagnosis is fraught with pitfalls, and this book aims to steer you clear of them by helping to identify the possible causes of your pain, in order to present a clear picture of the problem to your medical practitioner, so that he can make a speedy and accurate diagnosis. The first-aid and immediate self-help measures you should take for any injury, before you manage to see your doctor, are described. Following diagnosis, rehabilitation principles for each injury are given, from the very early stages of recovery, through to your return to sport. For tendon and muscle injuries, the progression starts with passive stretching for flexibility, then you re-strengthen the injured muscle group, until the final stage when you work the muscles in co-ordination with the surrounding muscles. For joint injuries, you have to regain stability through strengthening exercises, then gradually mobilize the injured joint, before moving into the final phase of co-ordinating exercises. All the specific exercises for achieving these aspects of recovery are illustrated in detail, for each injury throughout the body.



The explanations of injuries and their recovery processes, as well as the amazing range of therapeutic exercises listed, will make this book indispensable not only to sportsmen and women of all types and ages, but also to coaches, PE teachers, and medical and paramedical practitioners interested in sports injuries.