15 Concepts of Rehab to Fix Any Injury
Sports medicine has evolved significantly over the past decade. This blog post outlines 15 concepts of rehab that can be used to fix any injury, no matter the sport or severity.
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BowTied Kobra, Rehab Guy
I return athletes to sport pain free. || Providing quality rehab info without the BS https://t.co/fMDOZyHRiA
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I've worked in sports medicine for nearly 10 years and treated athletes at the highest level there is.
— BowTied Kobra, Rehab Guy (@bowtiedkobra) March 18, 2023
I've boiled most of what I've learned into 15 concepts of rehab that will fix any injury
These are what I use daily to fix athletes of all sports and any injury
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1. Pain in rehab is ok
— BowTied Kobra, Rehab Guy (@bowtiedkobra) March 18, 2023
Rehab should not be pain free. Some pain is fine and expected
Anything above 5/10 is counter productive
The key with pain is how it feels the next day.
5/10 during rehab but 2/10 the next day?
Perfect -
2. Movement is key
— BowTied Kobra, Rehab Guy (@bowtiedkobra) March 18, 2023
There is not a single injury in which movement does not benefit
Movement activates the lymph system which promotes healing
Move as much as possible and tolerable -
3. You can't fix an injury in one rehab session but can make it worse. It's not always a race
— BowTied Kobra, Rehab Guy (@bowtiedkobra) March 18, 2023
Just because you can tolerate the workout does not mean it is beneficial
If you do too much, you exceed the capacity for the tissue to recover and delay healing -
4. ROM is improved under load
— BowTied Kobra, Rehab Guy (@bowtiedkobra) March 18, 2023
Static stretching will not improve motion
Tissue needs to be loaded through a FULL ROM to restore function and motion https://t.co/6pKWSBEdzb -
5. Placebo is very real
— BowTied Kobra, Rehab Guy (@bowtiedkobra) March 18, 2023
If someone believes a treatment is beneficial to them, then it is
It should not be discouraged from use unless it will slow down healing or worsen the injury (ibuprofen for a stress fracture) -
6. Strength fixes everything
— BowTied Kobra, Rehab Guy (@bowtiedkobra) March 18, 2023
There has never been a single instance in which improving overall strength and power has ever not been beneficial
Improving strength should be the goal of all rehab -
7. Rehab should emulate the weight room
— BowTied Kobra, Rehab Guy (@bowtiedkobra) March 18, 2023
Aside from the very early acute phase where an injury is isolated, all rehab should look like a traditional gym session
Some exercises will need to be tweaked to bias certain muscles but the exercises shouldn't vary much if at all -
8. Tissue needs to be exposed to all forces
— BowTied Kobra, Rehab Guy (@bowtiedkobra) March 18, 2023
The goal of rehab should prep the tissue for the demands placed on it
Sprinting athlete? Rehab must involve sprinting
Jumping athlete? Rehab must involve plyometrics -
9. Diagnosis is not that important
— BowTied Kobra, Rehab Guy (@bowtiedkobra) March 18, 2023
There are a million special tests for the shoulder. Them being positive or not doesn't matter much
What are your limitations? How can we fix that?
Avoid tunnel vision on being concerned with exactly what hurts when it won't change the rehab -
10. Systems matter more than injury
— BowTied Kobra, Rehab Guy (@bowtiedkobra) March 18, 2023
The body works in systems. Rehab should be focused on that
Example. The exercises you do to rehab tennis elbow and a wrist sprain are identical
Ankle sprain vs Achilles strain rehab are virtually identical
Rehab the joint vs the injury -
11. Mobility over flexibility
— BowTied Kobra, Rehab Guy (@bowtiedkobra) March 18, 2023
Young clinicians obsess over ROM measurements
If you don't have textbook 140 degrees of hip flexion but are able to move through squats and deadlifts with no issue, is that something that needs correction?
I say no -
12. Stability comes from strength
— BowTied Kobra, Rehab Guy (@bowtiedkobra) March 18, 2023
The more you can recruit motor units the greater strength you will develop for stabilizing muscles
If you try to train them in an unstable environment, you decrease work output and have less strength gainshttps://t.co/LFeDb3PcYk -
13. Unilateral training fixes all
— BowTied Kobra, Rehab Guy (@bowtiedkobra) March 18, 2023
Imbalance? Do single leg training
Injury? Single leg training
This exposes weakness you wouldn't otherwise notice and builds on themhttps://t.co/LTMvFGoAab -
14. Don't change too many variables at once
— BowTied Kobra, Rehab Guy (@bowtiedkobra) March 18, 2023
You can change reps, sets, weights, rest time
Change one variable at a time. This allows you to know what was therapeutic -
15. Rehab is eval
— BowTied Kobra, Rehab Guy (@bowtiedkobra) March 18, 2023
My first rehab session is always an evaluation
I can get all the info I want from special tests and strength tests but that won't tell me what someone can actually do
Get someone moving, find the limitations and then fix them -
That's it.
— BowTied Kobra, Rehab Guy (@bowtiedkobra) March 18, 2023
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