Introduction to The Physio Centre

The Physio Centre is a highly qualified private physiotherapy clinic in Dubai Healthcare City. Our clinic focuses on finding the cause or potential cause of a problem, and correcting it. Our areas of expertise are sports, orthopaedics and biomechanics, and we have been involved in this area for 10 years in multiple countries including Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Sweden and United Kingdom.

Physiotherapy is too often used to get rid of pain and return a person to activity. This is certainly an important aspect of physiotherapy, though we believe that when talking of a younger population, particularly children and adolescents, it is extremely important to prevent injuries, thereby reducing the chances of injuries, aches and pains in adulthood. At The Physio Centre we do this using clinical judgement and experience in most cases, but also using video analysis to look at gait and running. For active children, this assessment will highlight any shortfalls in a child, allowing us therefore, to correct them. This technology is particularly helpful when considering footwear, be it athletic or day to day.

Injuries are much easier to treat before they happen, than once they’ve happened!

What are the common soccer injuries?

  • Bumps and bruises: from falls or collisions. Common areas are shins, feet, knees and thighs. If the bone has been bumped, the pain can be considerable and can last for 1-3 months.  It smight just need a quick check to make sure nothing else is going on.
  • Ankle sprains: the quick change in direction can often stress the athlete too much, most often giving way on the outside.
  • Calf strain: happens during acceleration and deceleration. Pain is felt on the back of the lower leg.
  • Dehydration: children are not aware of the need to drink and hydrate well, leading to headache, nausea, dizziness, fatigue and poor performance.
  • Meniscus tear: usually happens during twisting of a bent knee joint. Could be either inside or outside of the knee. Common complains are pain in the knee, swelling, tenderness and a popping or a clicking sensation. Often comes with a joint locking complain.
  • ACL injury: a tear of the (anterior cruciate) ligament inside the knee joint. Often occurs during a change of direction with a deceleration, or during a landing of a straight knee. There is usually a “pop”, pain, swelling and a feeling of instability.
  • MCL/LCL injury: a sprain on the ligament on the inside (MCL) or the outside (LCL) of the knee. MCL occurs if an opponent applies force to the outside of the knee or if the foot is stuck in the ground with a turn to the side. LCL is less common, occurs when an opponent applies force through the inside of the knee. Complains are usually knee pain and point tenderness over the ligament and a feeling of instability.
  • Thigh muscle strains: usually happens during sudden acceleration or deceleration when running. A tear in hamstring is felt with sharp pain on the back of the thigh and a quadriceps tear is felt on the front of the thigh.

What do we need to do when they are injured? 

RICER
Rest - stop.

Ice – evidence proves ice aids acute injury recovery, whilst heat is detrimental to acute injuries.

Compression – with an elastic bandage.

Elevation – above the heart. Lift the injured body part above the level of the heart.  This might mean lying on the ground.

Referral – as required, see below.

When should we seek medical advice?

Poorly managed injuries in children can lead to more extensive injuries as adults.
Children do recover well however, not all injuries are visible so please be aware of this.
If your child does not walk on the leg the following day, seek medical advice.
If your child complains of pain 3-4 days after incident, seek medical advice.

How can we help to prevent injuries?:

Warm up; walk, jog and stretch.

Drink; water is much better than the sugary based drinks such as Powerade, cordial and juice.

Eat; carbohydrates the night before and proteins afterwards.  This will ensure energy for the activity, and good recovery after the activity.

Warm down; just as important as warm up, to let the body recover. Try a slow jog, walking or stretching again.

Does you equipment fit well? Is it in good working order?

-Boots, football socks, shin pads (make sure to avoid blisters)

Encourage activity multiple times a week; At least 3 times a week to enhance fitness, coordination and performance.  Varying activity is always a good idea to maintain your child’s interest and to promote other skill sets.

Check your concerns out straight away; If you are worried about your child’s performance, technique, or complaints, don’t wait until it worsens.  Check it out - prevention is much better than the cure.