Friday, October 28, 2011

Life on the sidelines

"After attending every practice, these students will never see any game time. They’ll never throw for a touchdown, or make the winning shot. They spend the majority of their time on the sidelines watching the action as it unfolds. Yet these students are an integral component of Mustangs Athletics.

These are student trainers.

They gather in a Thames Hall lab on a Monday afternoon and sit eagerly listening to coordinator of athletic therapy services Rob Walsh. Today’s lesson: compartment syndrome and how to properly recognize it. Yet in this class, the importance of taking notes is not only to ace the course, but also so they can better treat Western Mustang athletes.

“It’s part of an injuries program that they’re in,” Walsh explains. “It’s sort of a stream within kinesiology, so it’s not like a volunteer thing, it’s part of their program.”"

Friday, October 21, 2011

Spits notes: Posa sidelines, Kuhnhackl skates, Ryan's status

"The 19-year-old Posa is once again sidelined by a high ankle sprain suffered Sunday in Brampton against the Battalion.

Trying to get inside leverage on Brampton’s Barclay Goodrow, the two fell to the ice and slid into the boards.

“I heard it pop right away,” Posa said. “Joey (Garland, the team’s athletic therapist) came out and asked if it was my leg or ankle.”

Posa got rid of his crutches Thursday, but said there’s nothing to read into that.

“When I did it (as a rookie), I got rid of the crutches just as fast,” Posa said."

Hitmen get their revenge

"Prior to the game, the Pats made a special presentation to athletic therapist Greg Mayer, who worked his 1,000th WHL game last Wednesday in Calgary ."

Shoulder injury KO's Regin again

"Regin missed the first two games of the regular season after getting injured Sept. 27 against the Maple Leafs. He took extra time to make sure he was healed and his teammates know this injury isn’t going to be easy on him.

“That sucks for him and for the team as well,” said defenceman Erik Karlsson. “He’s played great and he’s gotten going again. (The latest injury) doesn’t help. I don’t know how bad it is, but it’s definitely hurting the team and hurting him as well.”

MacLean said this isn’t easy for Regin.

“I haven’t had an opportunity to speak with him, but everything I’ve heard from (athletic therapist) Gerry (Townend) he’s pretty down. Those were his words for it and it’s only natural,” said MacLean."

Athletic fundraiser

"Kingston's Run for Gold takes place on Saturday at Sangers' Farm in Glenburnie (1255 Unity Rd.).

The event, hosted by the Kingston Athletic Therapy Centre and J&J Cycle, will raise money for three Kingston athletes to attend world championships next year — dancer Stephanie Rychlo, mountain biker Kyle Sangers and trampolinist Brett Babcock."

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Local Athletic Therapists Gloating Working for the Jets

"Four athletic therapists from Manitoba have landed their dream job by working with the Winnipeg Jets.

Having the best seats in the house, the team’s training staff tends to any injuries players may experience on the ice, and helps keep the athletes in top physical condition all season long.

“Growing up in Manitoba, there was no better feeling standing on the Winnipeg Jets bench in front of 15,000+ emotionally charged fans,” said head athletic therapist Rob Milette. “It was electric in there I will remember that vividly for the rest of my life.”

October 9 was a special day for everyone on the team, as the reborn hockey club made their first real debut of the regular season.
Fellow athletic therapist Brad Shaw moved back to the province after working with the Kootenay Ice in the Canadian Hockey League.

“The atmosphere was something you can’t begin to explain and to be a part of it was pretty surreal,” Shaw said, reflecting on the home opener.
It wasn’t a huge adjustment for the guys, who were all formally part of the Manitoba Moose organization, but a move into the NHL was nothing to scoff at. The staff — all members of the Manitoba Athletic Therapists Association — have since settled into their offices at the MTS Iceplex."

Monday, October 17, 2011

Head injuries go to House of Commons

"Queen’s Athletic Therapy co-ordinator Vicky Wiltshire said it’s important to promote concussion education. She said the higher number of reported concussions among Queen’s athletes might have to do with an increased awareness about the dangers of head injuries.

“It’s really hard to tell whether there are more concussions happening or we’re just seeing more because we’re better educated,” she said, adding that coaches don’t say “it’s just a bell-ringer” anymore.

“People are at least starting to open their eyes,” she said.

Athletic Therapy follows the Concussion in Sport Group guidelines to evaluate concussed athletes, concluding daily check-ups until symptoms clear up. If symptoms persist, athletes are referred to sports medicine physicians.

Wiltshire said most athletes recover within a week but some have suffered long-term effects.

“We have a very small number of athletes who, weeks later, can’t sit through a lecture without getting a headache,” she said. “It can be scary and really debilitating … sometimes you don’t recover from it.

Montreal Canadiens: 'We need to stick to game plan,' Subban says

"There was some good news on the injury front, although the Canadiens are still waiting for defenceman Andrei Markov to return from Florida where he is rehabbing under the watchful eye of Dr. James Andrews and Canadiens athletic therapist Nick Addey-Jibb."

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Nanaimo therapist will travel with national team to Mexico

"A Nanaimo sports therapist is accompanying the Canadian women's national field hockey team to the Pan-Am Games this week.

Noreen Ortilla is one of the official athletic therapists for the squad in Guadalajara, Mexico. Ortilla, owner of Elite Performance Athletic Therapy in Nanaimo, has been working with the team for the past three years and this year Canada can qualify for the 2012 Olympics in London.

She has traveled with the women for many other international competitions, but this trip is special, Ortilla explained.

"This will be my first major games with this particular team," Ortilla said. "There are only a few hundred staff around the country that are privileged to share time with these amaz-ing people, all national team athletes."

Friday, October 14, 2011

Mount Royal athletic therapist heads to Pan American Games

"It takes time, training and years of dedication for athletes to make it to the world stage and compete for their country at the Pan American Games. 

Little do people know, that much like athletes it takes years of dedication and preparation to their profession for athletic therapists to be able to represent their country at the games.

Khatija Westbrook, head athletic therapist at Mount Royal University, feels honoured to work alongside world-class athletes. She was recently chosen to go to the Pan Am Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, from Oct. 14-30 that features athletes from North, South and Central America.

"We all are excited to help the athletes excel," she says. "It is quite an honour to be given the opportunity to help them reach their dreams.""
...
"Brennan Mahon, a student athletic therapist who works with the MRU Cougars men's basketball team, says that no one ever thinks about how difficult it is for the trainers to make it to world- level sports events such as the Pan Am Games.

"It is very impressive that she gets to go," Mahon says. "As difficult as it is for an athlete to make it, I think the ratio for athletic therapists they allow is similar — so few get to go."
"
...
"Joelle Sexsmith, a fourth year MRU student in the athletic therapy program believes that the officials made the right selection.


"This is such an amazing opportunity for her. She is so brilliant. I know she will do a good job.""

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Nutrition key to surviving long CFL season

"SPORTSNET.CA recently had the chance to speak with Dave Wright, the head athletic therapist for the Toronto Argonauts. Wright is responsible for overseeing all of the team’s medical needs, from training to rehabilitation to in-game assessment and emergency care.

We wanted to know what level of emphasis the Argos placed on nutrition in getting their players ready for the many practices and games throughout the season. It turns out that what each player eats during the day depends alot on the position he plays and his age. While Wright was kind enough to go into detail about what the club is currently doing for it's players, he also discussed what he would like the Argos to do if he had unlimited funds."

Stirling back after health scare

"The crew took Stirling to United Health Services Wilson Medical Center in Johnson City, N.Y. Following a series of tests, the physician came out and explained to Francesca that they believed they would have to go in and do an angioplasty. Some time later the physician brought her in to see X-rays that had been taken and explained that Stirling now required a triple bypass. 

By time Stirling went into surgery, Francesca was joined in the hospital by familiar faces, B-Sens head coach Kurt Kleinendorst, his wife Deon, part-owner Bob Carr, and athletic therapist Glen Kinney among them. The Stirlings’ son Scott, who was two-and-a-half hours into a return trip to Ohio after visiting Binghamton over the weekend, turned around after learning the news."

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Cammy's cut leaves Habs short

"Cammalleri's left leg was cut between the top of his shinpad and the bottom of his pants when the skate of teammate Yannick Weber sliced across it during the game against the Winnipeg Jets at the MTS Centre.

When he got to the bench, Canadiens head athletic therapist Graham Rynbend wanted to get Cammalleri to the dressing room. Only problem was, at the MTS Centre players leave the ice through the Zamboni entrance.

And the Jets were on a power play.

"The ref is there and I'm like, 'You've got to stop the play.' I know there's a power play and I'm not panicking to the point where I don't know what's going on. In this scenario you would be kicking yourself if you didn't yell at the ref and something serious happened and you needed the medical attention. I'm yelling, 'You've to stop the play, man, I've got to get off. I'm pouring here.' Seconds later, by the time I got off, there was a lot of blood. It was a little scary.

"How much blood can you lose? I've seen too many war movies where guys get sliced."

Cammalleri got sewed up -- "a lot," he replied when asked how many stitches -- and could be out for up to two weeks."

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Middleton Selected to Ontario Blue Jays

"Tyler Middleton says "Andy Brown, the head athletic therapist for the Owen Sound Attack as formerly the trainer for the Ontario Blue Jays.  When I told him that I wanted to play baseball at a more competitive level he suggested that I give them a call.  I went for a tryout at the indoor facility in Mississauga and was fortunate enough to be selected for the development program."

Read More...

How one patient overcame his fear of hospitals during the C. diff outbreak

"Joe Kenny has had a life-long fear of hospitals.

Brock University's head athletic therapist sheepishly admits it's more than a little ironic. It's hard to explain, but the prospect of having to seek hospital treatment has filled him with dread for as long as he can remember. So as Kenny sat in the emergency room at the Niagara Health System's Ontario St. site, the slow realization that he would need surgery was not sitting well.

"I started to feel light-headed, as if I was going to faint," he said. "I think I knew what was coming in the back of my mind."

Kenny's fears were heightened by months of press coverage of the NHS's battle with the killer superbug Clostridium difficile. He knew that as a healthy, middle-aged man he was unlikely to fall ill because of the bacteria, but it weighed on his mind as his stomach ached. More than 30 patients with outbreak-related C. difficile infections have died during the outbreak that is still ongoing in St. Catharines."

Monday, October 10, 2011

Cats get the message, defeat Oceanic

""We worked hard and earned this win, but there's things we need to improve. (Athletic therapist) Graham Black does a great job working with the guys on their physical conditioning and I think we're seeing the results of that. We've still got juice and our third periods are getting better and better."

Moncton is 3-3-0-0 part way through a stretch in which it plays 10 of 12 games on the road."

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Varied symptoms of concussion may need treatment by many different therapists

"At York University in Toronto, the sport injury clinic provides a team approach to dealing with concussions among players on its varsity teams.

Sports medicine doctors, physiotherapists, chiropractors, massage therapists and more all bring their individual specialty to get an athlete back on the field or ice, but always with a go-slow approach, says Cindy Hughes, head athletic therapist and clinic manager."
...
"One of those therapies is osteopathy, a system of hands-on manipulation of the bones and tissues aimed at restoring the body to health.

Part of that treatment can include cranial-sacral massage, says Natalie Randall, an athletic therapist and osteopath at Cove Sport Therapy in Dartmouth, N.S.

The osteopath will work on what's called the dura mater ("tough mother" in Latin), one of the protective layers around the spinal cord upwards from the sacrum, or tailbone, that also cushions the brain inside the skull."

Friday, October 7, 2011

Sports Medicine with Jill Bruder

"For Jill Bruder, Pincher Creek athletic therapist, at Reaction Athletic Therapy, she described the adrenaline surge that pumps through her body when an athlete falls on the field.

Trained as an EMR, Bruder said both herself and members of her team are first responders on the field when an individual injures themselves. For the past 11 years, Bruder—as an athletic therapist—has travelled with the Canadian Professional Rodeo Sports Medicine Team to rodeos across Western Canada.

Just as she has travelled to the Calgary Stampede, Bruder and her team—made up of chiropractors, massage therapists and sports medicine doctors—have visited rodeo events in Edmonton, Stavely and Pincher Creek as well.

"I do take a little bit of pride if I'm at a rodeo and I, for instance, tape somebody's knee and they ride for 8 seconds and win the rodeo," she explained. "I helped that happen, whether or not it's true, I don't know, but I always like to think it is.""

Seafair adopts concussion protocol

"To effectively implement the protocol the association needs to first establish a baseline. It started this process last weekend by joining forcing with Richmond-based Evolution Sport Therapy, whose athletic therapy team tested players from two of Seafair’s Atom Division and Midget rep teams at its clinic. Using the Sport Concussion Assessment Tool 2 (SCAT2), which represents a standardized method of evaluating injured athletes aged 10 and over for a concussion, players were put through a series of cognitive and physical evaluations from which a baseline score was established. The score, which varies from player to player, can be a valuable tool if the player suffers a concussion in the future.

The players also participated in functional screening tests, a ranking and grading system that documents movement patterns for each individual that are vital to normal function."

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Keeping their heads up: SAIT participates in U of C concussion research

"Before the start of the season, every SAIT hockey player will have taken a concussion baseline test at the U of C.The testing uses an innovative robotic device to assess athletes for reaction time, divided attention, working memory, visio-spatial planning, and movement co-ordination.

“We’re excited about the integration of robotics as a novel concussion assessment tool,” said Dr. Brian Benson, who conducted the study, in a press release. “Even subtle impairments may increase their risk of repeat or additional injury.”

Kim Sweeney, SAIT’s head athletic therapist, has dealt with student athletes who have experienced concussions for seven years and said the school is going in the right direction.

Every athlete at SAIT who suffers a concussion has to go through Sweeney before being cleared to play. The athlete has to be symptom free for 24 hours, then undergo a series of increased physical activity. If there are any setbacks, it’s back to square one."