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Sports / Injury / Rehabilitation

We have a team dedicated to working with Sports injuries, this includes, Sam Pargeter,Chiropractor, Charlotte Porter and Marja van Dommelen Sports Massage Therapists.

Sports injuries can be anything from impact injuries, to muscle tears and ligament sprains. All of which can be dealt with in the following 4 phases of care:

1^st phase – the primary goal is to get you out of pain, so you can get back to your day to day activities

2^nd phase – it is then important that we find the reason you got the injury, for example, why did you pull your hamstring, was it a pelvis issue, or a knee problem or maybe a foot problem.

3^rd phase – rehabilitation of the injury through home exercises using a plan outlined to you by your therapist.

4^th phase – this is optional but we believe it is the key to optimal performance, which is maintenance based care, where you aim to keep your body at 100% either through sports massage or chiropractic care or a combination of the 2, on a regular basis whether that be monthly, quarterly etc.

Rehabilitation is the restoration of the ability to function in a normal or near normal manner following an illness or injury. Rehabilitation programmes reduce recovery time and speed up the return to work and sports activities.*

In each session an individual specific rehabilitation programme is devised to help in the recovery of any injury regardless of when the injury occured. The benefits include:

Pain Control	Reduction in inflammation
Restoration of full range of movement; strength; flexibility; power and balance	Improvement in muscular endurance
Building confidence	Re-establishing neuromuscular control
Regaining and improving proprioception	Maintaining cardiovascular fitness
Restoring functional and sport specific skills	Improving core strength, stability and motivation

Each session with the patient includes a combination of injury specific exercises, stretches, treatment advice and body conditioning techniques that are very effective and can be performed at home, at work or at the gym. The duration of each session is one hour and includes advice on treatment between sessions to successfully rehabilitate an injury to its normal function and reduce the chance of re injury.

If you have an injury and are not sure who to see first we are able to get either Sam, Charlotte or Marja to talk it through with you and decide who you need to see first.

*Ref:. The American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine 2000.

Our Therapists

Sam Pargeter MChiro (Master of Chiropractic)

Sam graduated from the Welsh Institute of Chiropractic where he received the Award for Clinical Excellence, an award given to the Best Clinician in the graduating year. Since graduating Sam regularly attends courses on new techniques and methods of treatment ensuring he can provide you with the latest and best care possible. Sam’s passion for his job is reflected in the hours he works, working from 08.00 until 19.00 most days and he will always endeavour to make sure he can fit you in at a time that suits you.

Alison Gillham Grad. Dip. Phys., MCSP, PG Dip. Health Ed.

Alison is a Chartered Physiotherapist who qualified in 1987 and has 24 years experience in treating a wide range of conditions in the NHS and Private Sectors. Alison has a post graduate diploma in Health Education and Health Promotion and has a special interest in occupational physiotherapy, ergonomics and work related conditions.

Alison is also skilled at treating and advising on sports injuries and a host of other musculo-skeletal conditions, her practice involves using therapeutic exercise, self management techniques, electrotherapy modalities and Maitland mobilisation techniques.

Charlotte Porter BSc (Hons)

Since graduating from the University of Kent with a BSC (Hons) degree in Sports Therapy, Health and Fitness, Charlotte has been working closely with both the sporting sector and the public sector. Charlotte has a keen interest in treating sports related injuries and rehabilitation. She also has the knowledge and experience in confidently treating non-sports related injuries holistically.

Marja van Dommelen LSSM Dip

Marja qualified as a sports massage therapist at the London School of Sports Massage in 1991. The London School of Sports Massage has been instrumental in setting up the Institute of Sports and Remedial Massage which is the professional body promoting the needs and aspirations of professional clinical therapists. The LSSM qualification is now the ISRM.