04/05/2021 2
During this training session, we progressed the exercises for the player who had the minor meniscus tear. The player had made big improvements last week. This was nice to see as it shows me that I am going the treatment right, and gives me more confidence in dealing with acute injuries. I learned some exercises that I hadn’t seen before which was really interesting and useful. Following this, gave more treatment to the player with the back injury. Upon assessment, our clinical impression has shifted from disc to facet joint. We gave her light mobilisations and light exercises to help with lumbar flexion. Again, back injuries are something I haven’t dealt with a lot, so this was extremely useful. After this, we had to give this player the bad news that she wasn’t allowed to come to the game on Sunday as it was a 4 hour bus drive away, which will cause her to be in a lot of pain. The player didn’t respond to this very well. She has ADHD so we had to let her calm down in her own way, and offer her alternative activities should could do on Sunday. She wasn’t responding well to the alternatives, and got quite upset. The lead sports therapist was dealing with this situation mainly, however I would like to go away and research the best ways to help people with ADHD. Whilst I know it will be quite subjective to each person, I might find some good tips that might make the player feel better if she were to get upset again.
11/05/2021 2
At this training session, I was asked to assess a players knee who has had an injury for a while. This was to get opinion on the injury as despite scans, physiotherapists and the lead sports therapist assessing it, the injury is yet to be diagnosed. Being asked to articulate my own clinical impression made me feel super confident in my abilities, and it felt as though I was trusted as a therapist which made me extremely happy. Upon assessment, I found a multitude of different thing but thought that the injury was either tendinitis of the hamstring, meniscus damage or an MCL injury. The findings were very inconclusive. After telling the main sports therapist my clinical impression, she agreed that these were the three she had thought as well. Despite doing rehabilitation, the player was still complaining of very complex symptoms. Due to this, the main sports therapist instructed me to do some desensitisation work around the area. When doing this, it made me think that the injury was more of a tendinitis. I found assessing and treating this injury very useful, as having inconclusive results is something that comes up quite often. Whilst this case was the most complex I had ever seen , it was good for practising my differential diagnosis skills.
18/05/2021 2
At this training session, two players banged heads during a tackle. I felt very confident when dealing with this injury after completing the RFU course. Both the players had a suspected concussion, so we took them off the field of play. I ensured we kept re-assessing the players to watch for any deterioration. Also, during this training session, I gave some more rehabilitation exercises to the player with the knee injury. Again, considering I am now at the end of my degree, I feel as though my bank of exercises has really developed so I felt very confident selecting appropriate exercises.
Sunday 23/05/2021 4
At the beginning of this match, we gave a few of the players pre-event massages and taped one of the players who has shin splints. During the game, one player went down with an ankle injury. This is something I had dealt with a lot before so again, I was confident in dealing with this. After this, another player fell to the floor and hit their head. After completing my RFU course, I have found my knowledge of this type of injury has expanded extremely. I immediately thought of what I would do if the injury was a cervical spine injury. However, luckily, the player was up before I got over to them on the pitch. they did appear to potentially have a concussion, so we took them off the field of play. At the end of the match, we gave some post-event massages and stretched some of the players. I felt overall very confident during this whole game. The RFU course has given me a great deal of knowledge and skills that makes me feel like an extremely competent therapist.
Tuesday 25/05/2021 2
During this training session, we re-assessed the player with the facet joint injury and gave some further exercises. I have recently dealt with quite a few patients in clinic who have back pain so I felt quite knowledgeable during the assessment. I also felt quite confident when giving this player exercises, however it seemed as though the lead sports therapist had a lot of different ideas regarding exercises than myself and the other sports therapists. So, it was really good to get an insight into other exercises we can use for these kinds of clients.
Sunday 30/05/2021 4
At the beginning of the match, we gave some of the players pre-event massages and taped the player who has shin splints. During the match, one player came off complaining of tightness and pain in their calves. We gave the player soft tissue release but they were still complaining of pain and tightness, so we gave the player some stretches to complete at home. Also during the match we also had one player go down with pain in their knee and another player go down with a potential hamstring strain. Again, I feel like my skills and knowledge have developed to the point that now with the majority of scenarios, I feel equipped to identify, treat and give rehabilitation.