By Shaun Rodgers, Physiotherapist
Quad Muscle Strain - Physiotherapy In Melbourne
Rehabilitation following any injury can be a stressful time for the athlete.
Fortunately, with the right plan and consistent work, the athlete can make a full recovery following a quad muscle strain and get back to their best.
Rehabilitation is individually tailored to each person, however, below are some common stages you would work through.
After the initial period of acute injury management of a quadriceps muscle strain, moving through the below 6 stages is important.
Timeframes differ depending on grade and location of injury within the quadriceps and your physio would be able to give you a return to play timeline depending on this.
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1. Restore Normal Gait and Range of Motion after a Quad Muscle Strain
When it is safe to do so, your physio will work on range of motion drills to make sure you can move freely through your knee, hip and trunk, allowing you to set a solid foundation going forward.
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2. Increase Muscle Strength
Your physiotherapist would work with you on regaining your quadriceps strength through different positions so that you can effectively return to running/kicking/jumping.
There are certain strength targets recommended for different sports and so, we would measure your strength specifically with our technology in clinic to make sure you are hitting these values.
3. Build Eccentric Strength
We want to regain strength in the quadriceps but also, we want to make sure the muscle group has eccentric strength - the ability for the quadriceps to produce force while lengthening.
This is imperative in returning to sport, specifically in kicking sports.
We would achieve this with certain exercises like a reverse Nordic for example.
4. Return to High Speed Running and High Force Kicking
When you get to this phase, you will have full range of motion, built significant strength and eccentric strength and completed running and kicking drills.
Your physiotherapist would now help you design a plan to get back to high speed running and high force kicking, an essential part of the rehab to make sure the quadriceps has the ability to work dynamically efficiently.
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5. Trunk and Hip Function
Your quadriceps have a close relationship with how your trunk and hip function. Throughout your rehabilitation, your physiotherapist will work on getting your hip and trunk functioning optimally.
This is important so that each segment works effectively and no deficits in strength/endurance/control are created which may increase future injury risk.
6. Return to Play and Robustness
When you have gotten to the stage of returning to play, your physio will make sure you are hitting all the right marks so that you can return with your quadriceps functioning excellently.
At this stage your physio will also be advising you on how to keep the quads robust to mitigate against future injury.
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