Thursday night training session for age groups U7’s, U8’s, U9’s and U10’s.

I had no appointments booked in for today so I headed up to the pitch to assist the coaches with their warmups and cool downs ensuring all stretches where demonstrated properly with my help. During the ongoing training session I aided a player by removing a piece of Astro from their eye just by pouring a bit of water into the eye. I then needed to attend the U9’s group due to a player falling and landing on his elbow. To begin with I calmed him down and asked him to rate his pain out of 10 (10 being excessive and needs to be removed!) he said a 7. I then attended to the elbow by asking him if he can move his arm but he seemed to be too scared to move it himself, I then asked for permission for me to move it and he said yes, I checked the ROM and after I moved the arm he could. He then shook his arm and said he felt fine and wanted to carry on.

Today was Monday night training session for the older age groups.

Today I only had 2 parents’ message me prior to training on Spond to book for an appointment.

The first client has been a client for the past couple of weeks with an ankle sprain. I checked his ROM using active and passive movements and all was okay with a little slight pain in eversion passively. He described his pain to be an “ache” after training but no more than a 5/10. I decided not to do any mobilisations today due to his ROM’s improvement over the past couple of weeks. Due to this client liking the K-tape as it makes him feel more secure and supported I decided to tape him again. Taping him from the medial malleoli and pulled the tape under the foot and up to the lateral side and up along his ATFL (Anterior Talofibular Ligament), I then applied an anchor piece from the achilles to the front (pain site).

My next client came in complaining of ‘pulling’ his bicep saying his shoulder feels really tight from throwing a ball 2 weeks ago. He had no pain in ROM or resisted ROM however slight pain on palpation along the biceps longhead and anterior fibres of the deltoid. I decided to apply K-tape around the deltoid (anterior and posterior fibres) ensuring it was covering the bicep longhead also in an extended position. I asked my client how it felt and he said he felt more comfortable and supported with the tape on. I then advised him some stretches he can do before and after training to prevent any further injuries to occur.

At the end of the training session I attended the pitch with all players gathered around the centre circle and taught them stretches making sure they knew how to do them properly by going round to every single one of the players and applying overpressure when needed.

Today was Saturday morning game day for U7’s, U8’s and U9’s all on the same pitch.

The pitch was separated into 3 sections with the U9’s having a bigger part of the pitch. I was overlooking all 3 games ensuring if there was any medical needs I will be able to attend straight away.

I attended early to help with warmups at the beginning, ensuring once they finished their warmups that they were stretched and ready for the game. Today we had no set fixture but just so they didn’t miss out from playing football this morning they had a game between each age group as there was enough players to do so.

One player went down from ‘rolling’ his ankle after landing on it ‘funny’. I took him off to the side of the pitch, so I was able to make a full assessment of his ankle without being in the way of the game. At first, he described his pain to be a 6/10, I checked his ROM and asked him to take his boot and sock off so I could visually see his ankle to check for any swelling or bruising. After this, he had calmed down from the shock and stopped crying he said this pain had gone and he felt fine to continue playing, I was also happy for him to continue.

Today was Thursday night training for age groups of U7’s, U8’s, U9’s and U10’s. I had no appointments booked in for today so as I arrived I went straight to the astro pitch at South Dartmoor Community College and helped with the warmup and cool down of the session. There were 4 different age groups in the same place so it was easy for me to attend to all groups to keep an eye out for any injuries that may occur.

During tonight’s session I attended to an ankle injury, checking the ROM was okay with comparing it to the other ankle. At Saints SW they have a “bounce back” policy where once they go down they have a couple of seconds to “bounce back up”, if they are ‘fine’ they will get back up but if they feel like they need a medical assessment then they stay down. This is when I went over to the player knowing he needed me to have a look at his injury. After going through his ROM he said his pain was now only at a 2/10 and said he is able to continue, I advised if it starts to hurt again, to sit out of training, I also advised to apply ice to his ankle when he got home to help with the swelling.

Monday night training session I had 3 clients booked in at the physio room.

The first client was from U13’s age group, the same client from the week before (follow up appointment). Comparing to last week, his ROM on his left ankle had improved and he said that the mobilisations really helped him. There was less pain compared to last week especially after resting his ankle and applying ice. Flexion was okay, slight pain of a 4/10 on extension, eversion was okay, and slight pain in inversion roughly a 4-5/10. I performed mobilisations again as there was still improvement needed for his ROM mainly in extension and inversion, I also then applied K-tape underneath the foot and around the ankle as he said that it gives him more confidence in his ankle.

The next client came un from U16’s age group (new client) and complained of two different injuries. One for his left knee and one for his left shoulder. I palpated the knee to begin with and found that there was pain at the apex of the patella however ROM was all okay. I applied K-tape on both sides of the knee and then across the bottom of the patella, advised to apply ice when he gets home tonight. After this, I then moved onto the next injury, I started off by palpating the bony landmarks of the shoulder and comparing any obvious changes to the uninjured side, but there weren’t any differences. I then moved on to palpation the soft tissue around the left shoulder, his tightness was mainly at the front (bicep long head was the tightest). ROM all okay apart from pain occurring in arm extension roughly a 5/10, so I showed him some bicep stretches that he can do and advised if it was still causing him pain next week to rebook with me again and I will provide a massage and possible soft tissue release (STR) if necessary.

The next client that was booked in was one of the clients I had last week. His Achilles was still just as painful as last week, I advised to seek medical advice from a doctor for possible scan (x-ray or MRI) to rule out any worse injuries. I then performed mobilisations in grade 1 and 2 to help with his ROM due to it still being less than the other in ankle extension. I then applied K-tape up the achilles to release tension that could be causing the pain and then another piece across the pain site. The pain site is still at the attachment site of the achilles on the base of his calcaneus.

After all booked clients have been seen to I headed up to the AstroTurf to go through some stretches with all age groups altogether in the middle of the pitch.

Today was a game day for U7’s and U8’s age groups.

For these age groups they don’t do a full 90-minute game, instead they do little 10-15-minute intervals (basically just a fun kick around). A player from the U7’s age group got struck by the football to the nose and caused a nosebleed. I ran over with my first aid bag, first thing I did was make sure he didn’t feel dizzy, however because it was painful he was just crying and in shock, so I sat him down with his dad next to him and gave him some tissue to pinch his nose, I reassured him that he was such a good boy and that he will be okay! This seemed to have calmed him down, after 5 minutes the bleeding had stopped so I pulled the tissue away and the blood clot came away with it (unfortunately I didn’t get any photos!). after the bleeding had stopped, I felt the nose for any misplacements or any swelling, but there was none present. I made sure he didn’t play anymore just in case he became dizzy due to it being a head injury. I spoke to dad and mentioned to keep an eye on him for the rest of the day, making sure he drinks plenty of water to prevent dehydration and if it bleeds again to get the nose checked out with a doctor.

After the nosebleed incident the goalkeeper from U8’s age group became injured. The ball hit the goalkeepers’ fingers and pushed the wrist in to extreme extension. I assured him that he will be okay and gestured his mum to come over onto the pitch so she can understand what I am saying to the athlete. I tried to move the wrist, but it was causing him too much pain, there was no swelling present, but I was a little concerned about how I couldn’t move his fingers nor could he. I advised his mum to take him to the doctors just in case there was any broken bones (advised an x-ray). His pain was at the distal end of the ulna and mainly in pronation and his ROM was decreased in flexion and extension.

Today was Thursday night training for age groups of U7’s, U8’s, U9’s and U10’s. I had no appointments booked in for today so as I arrived I went straight to the astro pitch at South Dartmoor Community College and helped with the warmup and cool down of the session. There were 4 different age groups in the same place so it was easy for me to attend to all groups to keep an eye out for any injuries that may occur.

Luckily tonight no one became injured, but instead for the warmup and cool down I showed them some stretches that they all did in each separate group. Here are some of the stretches I did with them.

Prior to this session I received messages from parents on the app called Spond to book appointments for their children to see me to be assessed due to previous injury.

I had 8 athletes booked in for todays’ session, I was given a physio room located near the sports hall on the college campus which already had a physio bed inside.

The first athlete (U13’s) complained of having ankle pain for roughly 4 months with the pain ‘on and off’. His dad explained that they often use kinesiology tape (K-tape) for support. I started this appointment off by assessing the ankle, comparing the range of movement (ROM) to the other ankle. Noticing that the ROM in the left ankle (injured side) is less than the right, so I performed mobilisations up to a grade 3 due to no pain occurring in those stages lasting for roughly 1 minute. After these mobilisations the ROM seemed to have improved. I then applied K-tape on the lateral side of the left ankle, starting anteriorly and following the malleolus posteriorly and halfway up the side of the leg. I then added another piece of K-tape underneath the foot in the middle and brought the edges up either side of the ankle. I then advised some gastrocnemius stretches for warm up and cool down and advised to apply ice after training if there is pain.

The next athlete (U13’s) came in with an ankle injury that occurred 1 month ago, he explained that it had become swollen and stiff the day after the injury occurred. “It keeps flaring up every now and then after each training session and match” this is what the athlete explained. I asked the athlete to walk up and down the corridor as his parent commented on how he has been ‘limping’ lately, so I thought I’d have a look for myself. When assessing the athletes’ gait, I did notice a slight limp. Palpation on the gastrocnemius and Achilles to feel for any muscle tightness (which there wasn’t). I decided to use K-tape and apply it on the bottom of his foot (below the calcaneus) to ‘lift’ the ankle but still allow movement.

The next client (U13’s) came in complaining of knee pain pointing to his right knee below the knee cap. When explaining how it happened he said he took a ‘knock’ to the knee with a slight twist. Observing the knee is was slightly swollen in comparison to the other knee, ROM was all okay (flexion, extension, internal and external rotation- no pain occurred), he described the pain to be a 5 out of 10. I decided to place a piece of K-tape across the area where the ACL is (where the swelling is) to aid the swelling and tissue healing.

The next client (U13’s) had an Achilles injury which occurred 3 weeks ago with pain occurring at the attachment site on the calcaneus. Painful to palpate, ankle ROM all okay in comparison to the other. Palpation of the Achilles onto the Gastrocnemius and found no tenderness or muscle tightness. I applied K-tape across the injured site to give support and advised to apply heat and rest from training this week.

A client from U14’s group complained of groin pain, ongoing for roughly 2 weeks prior to this appointment. Pain being at a 3/10 when not moving however after training the pain becomes a 7 or 8 out of 10. His explanation of it feeling like it’s being overstretched. Palpating the groing area, his quadriceps and hip adductors were tight on his right leg (injured side) in comparison to the left. He didn’t feel comfortable for a massage as he said it felt ‘fine’. I advised him to use a hot water bottle before training to help ‘warm up’ the muscles, alongside a few stretches for before and after training/games.

The next client arrived (U16’s) and his parent explained that he has been complaining about his lower back feeling ‘tight’, the client then mentioned to me that he feels absolutely fine. I had a palpate of his lower back and cleared the joints above and below. He said that this appointment is pointless as he feels fine, I asked him if he wanted me to give him a quick massage on his lower back but he said he didn’t want one, so I gave him some stretches and advised if it plays up to rebook another appointment with me.

The next client came in with left knee pain, he stated that this happened roughly 2-3 months ago. His left knee was slightly swollen in comparison to the right knee. I checked the ROM, and all was okay however slight pain occurred during flexion and extension at the end ranges. He asked me if I could tape his knee using K-tape, I taped either side of the knee and then another piece across the ACL to help reduce the swelling.

The last client of the day has already been diagnosed with Osgood Schlatter’s. I have advised him to stop playing/ doing any form of activity as soon as the pain comes on as his parent mentions that he always seems to be limping and having to come off injured every match. I have advised to apply ice every night as it will help with the swelling and the pain. I applied K-tape in an X shape just below the kneecap for the support.

At the start of these appointments I felt a little nervous as it was my first day of placement, however as the appointments kept rolling smoothly, I became more and more relaxed. Next week I am aiming to not book so many people in in one day due to not being able to spend more time with my clients. Today felt a little rushed.