A well-balanced and injury-free body is the dream of every athlete. Unfortunately, this is not always the reality. Osteopathy in sport has been used in different countries to prevent and treat injuries, giving the athletes a better quality of life, and helping them to achieve better results, no matter which kind of sport we are talking about.
There are a great number of top athletes that benefit from osteopathic treatment. In 1998, just after winning the World Cup, the former football player Zinedine Zidane said: “I owe a large part of my presence in the final match to my osteopath.” Fourteen years after that, he talked about Osteopathy again: “treating yourself naturally, with less medication and anti-inflammatories, allows you to preserve yourself after your sports career and age better". Currently, many other athletes utilise Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment (OMT), for example the Polish tennis player Jerzy Janowicz, the British olympic champion Mo Farah, and the French Real Madrid’s football player Karim Benzema.

Therefore, it is no surprise that a team of osteopaths have been present in all Olympic Games since ‘London 2012’. That was the first time that 25 osteopathic health professionals joined the health team of the biggest sporting event in the world. There were more than 900 treatment sessions there. In ‘Rio 2016’, the number of osteopaths that joined the health team increased to 30. Consequently, the osteopathic approach has become a reality for prevention and treatment of injuries for high performance athletes.
However, amateur athletes can also benefit from osteopathic treatment to increase their health status, quality of life and improve their performance. Presenting a truly holistic approach, Osteopathy considers the body as a single unit, where all the systems are interrelated and interdependent, also considering all the other aspects that are common to every human being, like the psychological, mental, social, environmental and spiritual fields.

​Initially it may still be a little painful, taking paracetamol is helpful. Make sure you drink plenty of water with the pain medication to help protect your liver and kidneys.  
During the time of wearing a cast, it is not advisable to drive. There are many activities of daily life which will be more difficult. Aim to accept it is simply this way for a while. Depending on your work you may be able to work part time.  Remember that things will take longer to do and be more tricky (and sometimes impossible to achieve!) - be patient and ask for help.
To shower, it is important the cast be kept dry at all times so a plastic bag can be taped to the skin with medical tape. Then aim to keep the arm up above your shoulder level. Washing every area of your body can be tricky so just do your best or get some help!
Sometimes your plaster cast be changed for a lighter fibroglass cast after about three weeks if your bone healing is going well. It's worth asking your orthopaedic specialist about this as it is less strain on your neck and shoulder.

​Dr Melanie Young
B.A., BSc.(Clin Sc.) B.Osteo Sc. MONZ
Reg Osteopath
​Director City Osteopaths
Wellington
​New Zealand

​Phone 04 4991439

http://www.cityosteopaths.co.nz

Although we all consider exercise to be a key component of a healthy lifestyle, regular stretching is often overlooked and is not always integrated into our exercise routine. Whether we’re exercising regularly or not, it is important to stretch for both our physical and mental health. Many people consider stretching to be time consuming and so it’s either done very briefly, or not at all. Now that we are currently in isolation, people have more time to consider their physical and mental wellbeing at home. We can use this opportunity to incorporate stretching into our daily lifestyles.
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If we are working from home, or simply taking this time to rest and recuperate, it’s likely that tension will build up in our muscles after prolonged periods of sitting. It is important to stretch daily to help to keep this tension as minimal as possible. The great thing about stretching is that everybody can do it, regardless of flexibility or age, and you don’t need any equipment or a huge amount of time to be able to feel the benefits. 

​Benefits of stretching

Improve posture
Office workers, or anybody who is seated for long periods of time tend to build up muscle tension in the chest, back and legs, if they don’t regularly stretch. This can dramatically impact your posture because as tension builds up, your muscles will become tighter and shorter in length, causing us to develop rounded shoulders and a slouched and slumped spine. Over time, if this is left untreated, your posture can get progressively worse and can begin to cause musculoskeletal pain. Stretching regularly will help the body respond better to stresses that we put on it through prolonged positioning and will also help to prevent chronic tension from building up.

Reduce chance of injury
Muscle injuries tend to occur when they’re tight and put under strain by being stretched too far. This can happen during simple day to day activities or sometimes through exercise. A regular, consistent, gentle stretching routine will help to keep muscles more supple and flexible, thereby reducing the risk of injury.

Improve range of motion
Tight muscles will prevent your range of motion. For example, tight hamstrings may prevent us from being able to straighten our legs fully, or bend forwards to touch our toes. Regular stretching will improve the flexibility within your muscles and therefore allow an increased range of motion to occur.

Reduce pain and stiffness
A form of active recovery for sore muscles is to do regular, light stretching of the affected muscle group. Many studies have shown that regular stretching can help to decrease pain levels and reduce stiffness, for both acute soreness and also in individuals with chronic neck and lower back pain. 

Calm the mind
Although stretching can feel a bit uncomfortable at first, the more regularly you stretch, the greater the benefit will be for both your mind and body. Focus on taking deep, mindful and slower breaths when you are stretching. This can help to relax you further and help your stretching routine to be calming and enjoyable. 

How often should I stretch?
When it comes to stretching, consistency is key. By doing a few simple stretches daily, our muscles will remain supple, our flexibility and posture will improve and our chance of injury will be reduced. Keep the stretches gentle if you’re doing them throughout the day e.g. lunch time stretches. The best time to stretch more deeply is after exercise when our muscles are warmer e.g. after walking or running.
 
How long should I stretch for?
Hold each stretch for 30 seconds and try not to hold your breath whilst your stretching. Don’t ‘bounce’ in the stretch, this can cause injury. Just take the stretch to the point that you can feel tension in the muscle and hold it there. You should not experience pain when you are stretching. If you do experience pain, ease out of the stretch to find a more comfortable level of tension or contact us for further advice.
 
Keep an eye on our social media where we will soon be posting stretches that you can easily do at home. 

​Rhianna Smith 
DO M.Ost. Reg. Osteopath, MONZ 
www.cityosteopaths.co.nz
​Phone 04 4991439

We had a great response to our hip mobility video, so we decided to follow it up with 3D functional calf stretch.
You may be doing the type of calf stretch where you hang your heels off the edge of a curb? If so, you may want to try this calf stretch instead, which creates mobility that will carry over into your running or walking gait. Get the most out of the 3D calf stretch, by doing it before the 3D hip stretch. All you runners and walkers out there, give it a go!
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