Beyond Dr. Google...

Sports rehab isn't just for Christmas (or just for 'athletes')...

Understanding Your Uniqueness

It’s fair to say it'll be tough to beat Google on a pub quiz. The search engine’s capacity to locate and share information is much greater than us mere mortals. Even chess grandmasters have a difficult time in taking down AlphaZero (Google’s infamous chess AI).

Yet, don’t let that fool you. Google’s capability to accurately diagnose “why does the front of my knee hurt?” is nowhere near its ability to forward-think through a game of chess. It doesn’t truly understand the interaction of human structures and their adaptive natures when it comes to pain and injury. It certainly can’t help you to diagnose and adapt a rehabilitation plan that caters for your needs.

I can’t count on one hand the times I’ve had someone tell me they’ve torn their ACL or ‘have a roter cuff’ because they’ve googled their symptoms, or their friend has had something similar. And whilst our professional training allows us to find the humour in some of these chinese-whisper-esque diagnoses, I’ll clear a few things up in this email for you.

Firstly we all have a ROTATOR cuff, and secondly, tearing your ACL is not the only knee injury to exist - crazy, right?! Many people incorrectly self-diagnose conditions simply because symptoms seem to match online descriptions.

However, every injury is unique to each individual. As a sports rehabilitator, I conduct tailored assessments to identify suspected injuries by following a holistic approach. This looks at the body as a whole, rather than just focusing on the area of pain, by examining how your body moves in space. For example, while you might experience knee pain, it may be linked to biomechanical principles combined with change in training habits. These insights aren’t obvious when you Google "knee pain". If, for example, you have knee valgus (where your knee drops inwards during knee bending movements) and follow a YouTube video consisting of squats and single leg dips, you might aggravate your symptoms further if other causes of your knee pain aren't being addressed.

Tailored Exercise Programs

In today's digital age, it's tempting to turn to Google or YouTube for quick solutions like "3 best exercises for knee pain." However, these platforms can't offer the personalised touch that may be essential for your unique needs. One person may find that they can’t bend their knee beyond 90 degrees and so a rehab goal may be to restore knee mobility, while others may have full range but feel incredibly unstable while lifting weights in these positions.

That's where assessments with me as a sports rehabilitator makes all the difference. We start by understanding YOU and your condition, with the real progress unfolding through regular reviews. Together, we create a bespoke rehabilitation plan focusing on your strengths and addressing your limitations—whether that's strength, mobility, proprioception, or confidence. This plan utilises a real-life approach, such as the equipment you have access to, ensuring that exercises are both effective and appropriate. Having worked across a diverse spectrum—from young athletes to amputees and the elderly, I have a vault of variations for different exercises tailored just for you stored deep in my brain (I’m not sure how I have space for much else to be honest!).

Regular reviews aren't just about building your functional capacity to handle more load; they're also about boosting your confidence. You'll learn that you can indeed move with some pain without causing further harm.

So, let’s say YouTube recommended that video of ‘3 best exercises for knee pain’ with 100,000 hits. Depending on your healing stage and the structures involved, these exercises might cause more discomfort, leaving you unsure of how to correctly regress or change those exercises appropriately. This may make you feel hopeless, thinking rest is your only option. But as I've repeated countless times - DON'T JUST REST IF YOU'RE INJURED - after all the human body is a complex adaptive system, capable of dealing with load. We must simply use your pain as a guide to titrate the dosage and determine the appropriate progressions or regressions! Attending a rehab session enables us to explore different movements while evaluating your technique and alignment. It also allows us to adjust loading angles, and tailor exercises specifically to you and your rehab timeline.

Live Better, Longer.

Rehabilitation not only helps prevent injury and recurrence but can also help delay the onset of functional limitations. Addressing pain or capacity (a combination of functional strength and mobility) issues now leads to a higher quality of life! For example, if you have pain while squatting at 30-40 years old, imagine how you’re going to find getting out of your chair when you’re 50-60. Equally, if you struggle with your balance and stability at 60, imagine how you will find walking and leaving the house when you’re 70-80! Check out this useful YouTube video from The Canadian Heart & Stroke Foundation here:

While a personal trainer may offer general fitness guidance, us sports rehabilitators are skilled in altering exercises, especially for the demographic and injury or pain we’ve assessed. This makes it accessible to all ages, all abilities, and all stages of your journey. We focus on building exercise tolerance to ease daily movements.

On that note, if you know anyone - including parents or grandparents - who are finding daily activities increasingly difficult, share with them your newfound wisdom, and please refer them to us for specific guidance!

Health and Performance is not limited to racing and competing, but how you perform day-to-day movements and meet your health and well-being goals! Not just for now, but for the rest of your life.

Google can be a helpful tool, but it’s not all great…. Trust in a personalised, informed approach to your health.

If you have any other questions or queries, comment on this post!

Thank you for reading,

Yasmin