Monotone Whistle
Well-Known Member
i thought I would write this post as often we see fellow refs complaining about potential muscle or joint injuries. I have suffered in recent years from lower leg pain that I have mistaken for calf, shin, ankle and Achilles problems at any one time.
My only advice to anyone with an "injury" or pain is to spend one match fee on a decent physiotherapist and get yourself looked at. Three times I have had pain in various parts of the body, and on every occasion it has been related to muscle imbalance, posture or weakness in an area completely away from the pain source.
So, back to the lower leg. I recently pulled up with what felt like a calf tear - it was playing me up for a few weeks and went pop during a pre-game warm up - it bloody hurt and I was hobbling around for 48 hours. It's the same leg where I had Achilles pain last year (that I sort of alleviated by soft insoles and lots of stretching). I decided to go back to my physio as he had been amazing in the past. Within 5 minutes he had tested my legs and diagnosed I had a week right hip, caused by years of crossing my right leg over when sitting and sleeping (most likely). Had I not been to him I would have taken three weeks off, missed 5 games and been no better off once I restarted. I've been doing some funny strengthening exercises for the past 3 days and I can already say I am pain free and feeling better.
The moral of the story is this- there is no substitute for an expert opinion. Even if you are sure you have a muscle tear or similar, a physio will speed up your recovery by giving you proper exercises to do and strapping where needed. If you have something completely different to what you think you have, like I seem to keep having, a physio will save you from weeks of wasted effort. In that case, you'll probably end up better off financially as well...
My only advice to anyone with an "injury" or pain is to spend one match fee on a decent physiotherapist and get yourself looked at. Three times I have had pain in various parts of the body, and on every occasion it has been related to muscle imbalance, posture or weakness in an area completely away from the pain source.
So, back to the lower leg. I recently pulled up with what felt like a calf tear - it was playing me up for a few weeks and went pop during a pre-game warm up - it bloody hurt and I was hobbling around for 48 hours. It's the same leg where I had Achilles pain last year (that I sort of alleviated by soft insoles and lots of stretching). I decided to go back to my physio as he had been amazing in the past. Within 5 minutes he had tested my legs and diagnosed I had a week right hip, caused by years of crossing my right leg over when sitting and sleeping (most likely). Had I not been to him I would have taken three weeks off, missed 5 games and been no better off once I restarted. I've been doing some funny strengthening exercises for the past 3 days and I can already say I am pain free and feeling better.
The moral of the story is this- there is no substitute for an expert opinion. Even if you are sure you have a muscle tear or similar, a physio will speed up your recovery by giving you proper exercises to do and strapping where needed. If you have something completely different to what you think you have, like I seem to keep having, a physio will save you from weeks of wasted effort. In that case, you'll probably end up better off financially as well...
