Interview
Angela Fullarton
Fredericton, NB
Angela Fullarton was drawn into physiotherapy, from her love of sports and medicine. She quotes; "It seemed like the perfect fit. I have loved and still love sports, as well as working with people, and helping them get back to meet their functional goals". Angela had a fantastic experience at Queens University, completing her bachelor of Science in Physiotherapy degree. She has made a lifetime of friends and found a career which she still loves today. She is a good friend of mine, and has provided a great amount of helpful information.
Q: What would be the most sports related injuries you treat amongst young athletes?
A: All the top injuries among young female and male athletes are: Patellar femoral (knee) pain syndrome, medical collateral, ligament sprains, and inversion ankle sprains.
Q: What injuries are easier for people to recover from, and what injuries take longer?
A: Partial muscle strains and grade 1 sprains are easier to recover from. Grade 2 and 3 sprains or full thickness tears to muscles are more difficult to recover from. Fractures have to be rested or immobilized for 3-8 weeks, so these usually take longer to recover from.
Q: What can be done after an injury has happened, to decrease its severity?
A: Early assessment and respecting pain. Most important is to listen to your body, and gradually return to graded exercise as recommended by physio or health care professionals. After an acute injury has been cleared of fracture, specific movement, elevation, traction and heat usually are best, but it always depends.
Q: Depending on the injury, can taping or bracing the affected area be helpful?
A: Absolutely love using tape. I use tape as my number one modality. Both tape and braces are used as temporary helpers. Sort of like a cast, not forever but for a period of time to support transition to sport. Post op sometimes braces are used for long term support, recommendations eg post ACL repair or post patella dislocation.
Q: When should ice or heat be applied for the injury?
A: Heat should always be applied except for infection (contraindicated) suspected or if client states it increases discomfort. I rarely use ice, but if client reports it reduces pain I will use ice for five minute intervals on and off.
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Q: How would you say that phsyio therapy affects/helps the outcome of athletes returning to sports?
A: The main thing here I believe is it helps address all the aspects of the injury thus prevents reoccurrence of injury. For example, for a muscle strain we don't just treat the injured muscle, we look at the imbalances around the joint that may have led to the muscle injury happening in the first place. As well as looking at balance, neural mobility, proprioception not just strength and mobility.
Q: How should an athlete treat a common injury after it occurs?
A: Most important thing is to respect pain but continue to promote circulation by moving and loading the joint in varied directions and monitoring the response an hour later. Then continue to increase movement and load depending on the response. Patience is very difficult for most athletes. Fear of movement or load (standing) can be very difficult too for some.
Q: Are female athletes more prone to specific sports injuries apposed to male athletes?
A: Yes, specific to young female athletes are Patellar femoral pain syndrome, mainly due to the angle of the pelvis in relation to the knee joint. More common to young female athletes is the knocked knee presentation (genu valgus) which leads to medial knee sprains and ankle sprains due to the stress placed on the medial joints.
Q: What are the risks of an athlete returning to a sport, not entirely recovered?
A: If the client returns to the sport before they are safe to do so, the recovery process will most likely be longer with a significant likelihood of reocurrence of the injury. Often to a higher grade fro example, grade one sprained ankle is now a full thickness tear that may be surgical or takes six months versus six weeks to heal.
Q: Depending on the injury, how long would the recovery/rest time be for a younger athlete before returning to activities? Ex: A common sprain.
A: Typically, most soft tissue injuries are three weeks to twelve weeks recovery depending on the grade of the sprain or strain. Most grade one and two sprains are four to six weeks for a full recovery, grade 2+ to 3 may take twelve weeks. Younger athletes usually respond quicker but they have to respect their pain and continue to add movement and load to help the ligament or muscle heal.