Overuse Injuries and physical therapy

Overuse injuries occur in a wide range of people from kids playing in sports to adults working out at a group fitness gym. Overuse injuries, also called chronic injuries, are a category of sport-related injuries that result from cumulative trauma or repetitive use and stress. Unlike acute injuries, which are typically caused by a single traumatic event, overuse injuries often are the result of many repetitive minor insults.

With cumulative or repetitive use of stress, essentially an individual is exceeding their body’s capacity to take on the amount of volume they’re engaging in. There are two simple ways to address this; to build more capacity for the system to take on more volume and/or introduce appropriate rest and recovery strategies to mitigate the accumulation of repetitive minor insults.

Volume > Capacity = Overuse

Volume </ Capacity = Under the threshold of overuse for a particular individuals body

This isn’t as straight forward as it may seem when you take into consideration an individuals sport/recreational activities, health history, sleep quality, nutrition, recovery strategies, etc.

But it is vital to put a plan together to initially address the pain/injury caused from the overuse and a progressive plan to improve capacity to take on more stress within an individuals life to minimize reoccurrence of injury and/or pain related to overuse.

If you’re dealing with a nagging, long-term overuse injury and/or have questions, reach out and lets talk to see if we can help you!