During the training session, no new injuries occurred and no first aid was needed however, some of the players had ongoing pathologies that were affecting their training. The goalie was experiencing a dull, achy pain in their shoulders, specifically underneath the medial border of the scapular. When I palpated her, there were a lot of muscle knots around this area. I advised her to use self-myofascial release (SMFR) also known as foam rolling. With foam rolling we need to consider a few principles: time, type, pressure, frequency and location. It would be best for the player to foam roll an area for 3 minutes to try and learn to tolerate the pain. A ball is an effective piece of equipment to use around the shoulder, such as a hockey ball, as it has a smaller surface area so is more precise than a roller therefore, can go deeper into the muscle tissues. Foam rolling is good because it decreases tension of fascia tissue and muscles, as well as enhancing sports performance (Freiwald, Baumgart, Kuhnemann, & Hoppe, 2016). I advised the player to use it in order to reduce trigger points, therefore decreasing tightness. Another player had an ongoing injury to the knee that hasn’t be diagnosed. The player had been wearing kinesiology tape around the knee, indicating that it may be acting as an alleviating factor. The fellow sports therapists and I discussed what it could be, by considering the players subjective and objective assessment, as well as the mechanism of injury. We considered it to be bursitis, however there was no swelling present or tenderness over the localised areas.

Areas for further improvement 

My first area for further improvement would be to find out if anyone in the hockey team has any underlying medical conditions, that we may need to be aware of. It is important to know this because if a player goes down on the pitch, it may be there underlying condition affecting them or something else. It would be worth knowing what to expect for certain medical conditions, that are present in the team, so you can distinguish between them. This would include researching what it is, what we may need to be aware of, what to expect from it and how to best treat the condition. These are just some of the key areas that we should consider. Finally, I need to revise the injuries that could be occur at the major joints including their mechanism, the subjective and objective assessment you would expect, as well as differential diagnosis and treatment methods.

Things to Remember:

1. With bursitis you would expect swelling and tenderness over the area
2. Ensure the appropriate sports therapist brings the physio bag
3. Make yourself aware of previous injuries within the team

References 

Freiwald, J., Baumgart, C., Kuhnemann, M., & Hoppe, M. (2016). Foam-Rolling in sport and therapy – Potential benefits and risks. Sports Orthopaedics and Traumatology,32(3), 258–266.