About Sports
“I enjoy playing different sports and watching them. Playing sports recreationally is completely different than professionally and I very well understand it as I myself was an athlete. An elite athlete or a person who starts sports has to undergo lots of challenges physically and mentally. Playing sports is always involved with injuries whether they are externally or internally; example a hit over shin bone and landing up with fracture or a stress on the leg and having stress fracture. I and my team understands the hardship that is involved in each sport and hence here we focus on making you much stronger and sooner return to the sport. In most of the sports cases our approach includes Aquatic therapy, Aqua fitness, Manual therapy, physiotherapy, strength and conditioning, video analyzing about functional training, teaching you self- technique for releasing knots and fascia tightness and sports specific training.” – Dr. Prachi Shah
Marathon Training
Since 2010, I have been training people and runners for marathons in group as well as individually. Since 2011, I have been always appointed by Asian Heart Institute and Standard Chattered Marathon, Mumbai to provide my services at base camp 1 and end stretch which are crucial points for a runner. It has been my privilege to help people and make them able to cover up those last meters which they have dreamed of to cover up in time. 2017 onwards I train physios for providing services at marathons and help make you run by treating you on spot.
Marathon training with us starts 6-8 months prior to marathon scheduled. We take care of your diet, as well as we guide you through different requirements during marathon. Even if you come 3 days or 3 months prior to us for marathon preparation or prior marathon any injury, we will make sure you run pain-free and enjoy your run. Commonest injuries and pains faced by runners , especially marathoners is ankle sprain, hamstrings strain, pes anserinus bursitis, ITB syndrome, low back pain due to SI joint dysfunction. We also educate about how to prevent heat exhaustion, heat cramps, heat stress and heat stroke.
We train with aquatic therapy, manual therapy and our underwater treadmill when it’s matter of injury so that there is no pressure or stress on joints and muscle endurance or muscle strength is not compromised.
We are partners with Xtreme Sports India and Goregaon Sports Club for rehab of Marathoners and long distance runners.
Swimmer’s Shoulder
It’s a condition where shoulder pain arises due to soft tissue injury occurred because of overuse injury. Swimmer’s shoulder is rated on different scale which is known as Bak’s grade of shoulder impingement. It has 5 grades in total. First 3 grades can be treated conservatively. Dr. Prachi has done research on Indian swimmers. She has been associated with Swimming Federation of India since 2013 and also she is sports physiotherapist for Indian Swimming and Indian Diving team. Her research studies link are mentioned underneath which was an intervention comparison study between land exercises and aquatic exercises.
Soft Tissue Injury
Soft tissue injuries are counted as much painful injury. They have to be treated with utmost care. One should undergo a very good rehabilitation to avoid the reoccurrence of a same injury or further more damage to it. There can be partial tear, half tear or a full tear. It includes a trauma or injury to the tissues present around or within the joint. Soft tissues include bursa, tendons, capsule, muscle, meniscus, disc, ligaments, etc. Whenever there is an involvement of any of the soft tissue, major muscles undergo wasting; i.e. the size of muscles reduce and they undergo weakness. This affects healing and getting back sooner to normal life. Hence the rehabilitation is important after a thorough evaluation. If knee joint for an example is affected, rehabilitation should be done for entire body and not only knee, especially the major muscle group of body.
Enhancing Performance
One should undergo assessment which will define his/her VO2 max , Target Heart Rate, Rate of Perceive Exertion, fitness testing, posture and gait evaluation, shoes and kinanthropometry assessment. In some cases, genetic history and genetic assessment are required to understand their performance in a better way. Performance can be better when one has good muscle strength and muscle endurance along with better functioning of vitals and body metabolic rate. Nutrition and circadian rhythm plays a major role in enhancing performance.
At our clinic, we check and assess all mentioned parameters and guide an individual accordingly during our sports consultation. We also offer diet which will be related to your sports and your blood group.
Football / Soccer and Hockey
The beauty and popularity of soccer lies in it’s simplicity. In a short span of time it demands high energy. It requires good muscle endurance and muscle strength along with a lot of co-ordination skills. Players are prone to many injuries related with multiple joints due to fall. Either of the joint or soft tissue involvement in an injury can subside their endurance because of lack of practice and training. To avoid this we offer Aquatic therapy training for athletes in our clinic along with sports psychology service to get them on back to their sport as soon as possible. We progress them from pain management to physiotherapy to aquatic therapy to plyometrics and strength – conditioning training; after which they can be progress to field practice and gym training.
We mark their progression and assess them on SISA protocols which are different for each sport and do maintain their log on sports and fitness assessment.
We understand the importance of each competition and hence we apply an holistic approach to get them faster and fitter to their sports.
How Aquatics will help in sports injury cases?
Benefits of the Aqua workout:-
- No stress on joints.
- No injury risk.
- Osteoarthritis pain relief.
- Treats Osteoporosis by increasing lean body mass and hence, no chance of fractures.
- Stress free exercises for weight bearing joints.
- Increased muscle & joint flexibility.
- Core strengthening which is a body pillar.
- Improves balance & co-ordination.
- Reduces swelling.
- Full body conditioning.
- No experience or swimming skills necessary.
- Higher resistance than land & painless workouts.
- Environment friendly & fun workout with exercises.
An athlete while doing exercises in swimming pool will have an effect on all his body systems depending on the depth of the pool he/she is exercising. Aqua workouts are a part of the Aquatic therapy where exercises are done in the swimming pool by using more of Burdenko method.
1. It targets your muscles & joints with equal resistance, pressure which encourages toning & strengthening along with losing extra fat, thus increasing your lean body mass and decreasing your body fat mass.
2. Resting muscle blood flow has been found to increase from a dry baseline of 1.8 to 4.1 mL/min/100g of tissue with neck immersion.
3. Aqua Workout doesn’t make you feel tired but 30 minutes workout is enough to shape you up & make you stronger in a hygienic way, since Aqua workout is 3-4 times intense to land workouts.
4. It helps in maintaining normal curvatures of the body and all there is no isolation of any muscle group.
5. Also prevents degeneration of joints by strengthening muscles and providing flexibilty.
6. It washes out unwanted metabolites from body improving your metabolism, thus reduces ageing.
7. Increased range of motion
- Passive range of motion
- Neurologic disorders are often accompanied by increased tone and decreased usage that lead to connective tissue restrictions.
- When muscle tone decreases, stretching and soft tissue mobilization techniques are more effective and the patient gains more mobility.
- Neutral warmth of water plus specific aquatic joint and soft tissue mobilization techniques help the patient gain more mobility.
- Active range of motion
- Buoyancy assists movements towards surface of water.
- Buoyancy supports movements parallel to surface of water.
- Active aquatic exercise programs have been shown to increase range of motion.
8. Aqua workout improves balancing & co-ordination. Buoyancy and viscosity of water provide a safe environment for patients to practice movement with less fear of falling. Progressing patients into shallower water allows them to gradually progress into a full weight bearing environment.
9. It reduces swelling & inflammatory changes.
10. Sensory overflow has been suggested to be the mechanism by which pain is less well perceived when the affected body part is immersed in water.
11. Somato-sensory input is increased more by moving through water than moving through air which is less viscous, and these results in an increase in proprioception.
12. Aquatic exercises will make you quicker & spontaneous on land, thus improving your speed and agility.
13. Aqua workout if done correctly helps in carving a healthy posture.
Since in a less duration of time we can get an athlete back to his sport with a good recovery to his injury; Aqua workout proves to be beneficial in an early stage of rehabilitation. Later it can be used as an alternate way of treatment to maintain the endurance and challenge the activities.
How we proceed in Sports rehabilitation?
Here at Dr. Prachi Shah Arora’s clinic, Health and Wellness centre, we do an assessment in the following manner
- Sports played, its level and frequency of training.
- Position in the sports.
- Fitness assessment depending on the grade of an injury.
- Musculoskeletal assessment which includes flexibility, posture, gait, special tests if permissible, AROM, PROM, end feel, MMT, Pain grading & pain assessment, girth & limb length measurement.
- Neurological condition.
- Past history of any injuries or surgery.
- Medical conditions.
- Allergies.
- Cardiac & Pulmonary assessment via 6 minute walk test, step test, peak flow meter, THR, RPE scale, etc.
- Any precautions to be taken.
Post this at Dr. Prachi Shah Arora’s Clinic we get the rehab done from a range of 3 weeks to 3-6 months. Dr. Prachi divides the sports rehab in 6 phases
1- Assessment & early treatment.
2- Strengthening and local muscle endurance.
3- Balance, co-ordination and Cardiovascular conditioning.
4- Task-related and Sport-stimulated skills development.
5- Transitional Aquatic Therapy
6- Maintenance and Fitness
Our Marathon Partner
