Osteopathy and sports massage can be particularly effective in supporting faster recovery from many soft-tissue injuries. Of course 'rest is best', and a certain time abstaining from full training is usually required. Having said this, Osteopathy to mobilse and optimise the function of the affected area, reduce pain, lyphatic drainage and effluage to help optimise and moderate the inflammatory response that is part of (essential). for tissue healing.
Acupuncture can also be particularly effective in promoting collagen formation and soft-tissue healing, moderating inflammation, reducing pain, promoting endorpins and other changes, and optimising recovery time.
For the 'older' athlete 'recover time' can be longer, and muscle and joint pain in the not so young can be treated well with more gentle Osteopathy and /or Acupuncture. Even arthritic joints that flare up with overuse, can be very gently mobilised and mucles streched using massage, and gentle osteopathic mobilisations and techniques to help restore soft-tissue elasticity and muscle length and reduce pain.
Acupuncture can be also be effective in treating both muscle and joint pain, and seems to be able to reduce the 'low-grade inflammation' and the pain it exacerbates, more prevalent in the older athlete. Osteopathy can be very gentle to help articulate joints and lengthen and stretch the associated muscles, and hopefully help redress and support improvement in poor posture, or optimise compromised posture. This is important, even in 'performance' sport, and preventing recurrence of injury and overuse patterns
As an older osteopath and athlete myself, I am fully aware of these processes, and can relate well to the 'older' athlete, and their aspirations and challenges, perhaps more than some of my 'younger' junior colleagues do.
A 50+ year old athlete is very different person to a 25 or 35 year old one that s/he once was, and their treatment program and rehabilitation training needs to be different also. This much is self-evident. Yet very few people in my 40 years of clinical experience in rehabilitation and exercise prescription as an athlete and Osteopath - know how to train and maintain optimum health and fitness, with advancing years, without some expert guidance. This is hard to find sometimes, and the 'Youth culture' we live in, does not seem to fully appreciate this.
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