A World Cup Thought That Made Me Think About Injuries
I am so grateful for all the messages and general feelings of positivity regarding my last email/blog post. It seems as though I am not the only one who feels as though genuine, thoughtful written content is something we all want to see! I mentioned this last week but it truly is hard NOT to put these through ChatGPT or Claude to have a little read over and proof-read! .. I promise I didn’t, and I won’t!
After discussing the impact of stress on chronic pain last week, it got me thinking about athletes wishing to perform physically at their best or prevent injury. This is on the back of me obsessing (of course) over the FIFA World Cup. Surprise, surprise but stress does in fact raise injury risk in athletes – they lose peripheral awareness, get distracted more easily and their muscles and coordination don’t work as well. The coolest bit is that athletes who get some sort of psychological support have fewer injuries than those who don’t.
While the above information makes a lot of sense it’s actually backed up by a big scientific review that pooled 48 studies together (back in 2017). If anyone is interested in the scientific study that reported these findings, let me know!
Take home message – it is 100% unequivocal that stress can negatively impact someone’s pain response and potentially increase risk of injury. So it’s real and something we should all be thinking about.
On the World Cup and soccer in general .. a lot of my patients don’t know but the reason I became a Physio in the first place was because of my own injury history. I had multiple patella (kneecap) dislocations as a kid which ultimately led to me getting both knees operated on, one when I was 16 and the other one I was 17. I actually fully fried my knee in year 12 playing at a NSW Schoolboys tournament, this was the beginning of the end of my very (very) faint professional sporting ambitions! (haha). All of this led me down the path in opening Next-Gen Physio. It’s funny how things like that work out I reckon.
Not just me but everyone that is a Physio at Next-Gen has their own complex injury history which I think helps us relate to our patients, understand pain and how the body works.
Ill be back next week and of course now that everyone is pumping up my tires saying how much they love these emails .. I have to keep doing them! (lol) [does anyone say lol anymore or is that a 90’s kid thing?].
If you or anyone you know is struggling with pain or injury, and keen to get a problem checked out .. reach out! We are always looking to take on new patients who align with us and keen to get their pain or injury on track. Im also available to answer any questions – just flick me an email .. tom@nextgenphysio.com.au
… Oh and more thing, Lionel Messi ran on average 8.1km per game in the World Cup which was one of the lowest distances for all outfield players in the whole tournament. Some athletes are just built different!
