Models of injury and practical tips for using imagery in rehabilitation

Athletes’ reactions to injuries are varied and involve not only physical, but also mental responses. The perception of injury and individual diff erences can infl uence the results of rehabilitation. This article presents four models that show these relationships. Special attention is paid to the diffi culties faced by athletes when returning to sp Imagery is a mental training technique recommended in the rehabilitation process. Correct application of this method is thought to be important in recovery. There are several main factors that are considered to aff ect the eff ectiveness of imagery training. Real examples of the use of the technique by injured athletes are useful for understanding what to pay attention to. Our purpose is to show that imagery training can help in an injury situation. ort after injury.

A descriptive prospective study of sports medicine practices for athletes in Uganda

Background: Many international sporting organizations have recommended practices to reduce the risk of injury. These practices include screening for injury, having appropriate emergency medical care, and protocols for managing injury before return-to-play. The extent of the uptake of these practices in a developing country such as Uganda, is unknown. Methodology: Using a descriptive case study approach, this investigation focused on a sample of injured athletes (n = 75) in Uganda from four main sports associations (football, athletics, basketball and rugby). The data were collected through observations and interviews after the injury. Using a best medical practice framework the phases of emergency, intermediate, rehabilitative, and return-to-sports participation were described. Result: Nine conditions/types of injury were included. The results revealed a lack of specific pre-season screening or re- turn-to-play readiness for all the injured athletes. Further, there was a lack of application of best practice principles for most of the injury types. For athletes who received medical care, the results show inconsistencies and inadequacies from the acute stage of the injury to return-to-sports participation. Conclusion: This study identified barriers such as up-to-date knowledge among the sports resource providers; the gaps for appropriate and adequate specific facilities for managing injured athletes, and policies to mandate care of injured athletes. These barriers detract from applying best medical practices. Keywords: Injuries; medical; Uganda; emergency; intermediate; rehabilitation; return-to-sports.

PSIXPORT: Mobile App for Ecological Momentary Assessment of Psychological Dimensions in Sport Injury

Retrospective self-reports have been commonly used to assess psychological variables such as feelings, thoughts, or emotions. Nevertheless, this method presents serious limitations to gather accurate information about variables that change over time. The Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) approach has been used to deal with some of the limitations these retrospective assessment methods present, and for gathering real-time information about dynamic psychological variables, such as feelings, thoughts, or behaviors. In the sports injury rehabilitation context, athletes' thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and pain perceptions during the rehabilitation process can influence the outcomes of this process. These responses change over different stages of the rehabilitation and taking them into account can help therapists to adapt the rehabilitation process and increasing their effectiveness. With this aim, an EMA mobile app (PSIXPORT) was designed to gather real-time information about severely injured athletes' cognitive appraisals, emotional responses, behaviors, and pain perceptions during their rehabilitation process. The goals of this study were to evaluate Psixport's ability to gather real-time information about injured athletes' psychological responses during the rehabilitation, to test the users' perceived usability of Psixport, and to compare the reliability and differences between real-time data gathered with Psixport and the data gathered through the one-time retrospective method. Twenty-eight severely injured athletes (10 men and 18 women) were assessed using Psixport, a retrospective questionnaire, and the uMARS usability test. Results showed that Psixport can be considered as a good tool to gather information about injured athletes' cognitive appraisals, emotional responses, behaviors, and pain perceptions. Moreover, multiple data assessments gathered with the app showed to be more accurate information about injured athletes' psychological responses than one-time retrospective reports.

Perceptions of Injured Athletes after Eight Weeks of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Program

Background: Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) has been extensively applied as a clinical intervention by researchers’ who have made on-the-spot decisions research as part of their practice. This research was provided via a knowledge transfer of 8 weeks of MBSR based on the original MBSR version. The main objective of this study was to offer a qualitative explorative insight into the perceived experience of participating in a MBSR program for injured athletes. Procedure: A Semi Structured Interview was conducted with each injured athlete who participated in this study. A Thematic Analysis was applied to explore the themes which emerged from injured athletes’ experiences after 8 weeks of participation in a MBSR program.Results: Five themes emerged from injured athletes’ attitudes towards MBSR: 1) Reconnecting with the body, 2) Reconnecting with the mind, 3) Passivity of MBSR as opposed to the athletic praxis, 4) Group versus self-guided MBSR, 5) Acceptance of pain. These different themes are presented and discussed below. Conclusion: This particular qualitative exploratory investigation was based on injured athletes’ experiences in this study; MBSR can benefit them during the sport rehabilitation process. As such, the findings will promote scientific understanding about the effectiveness of MBSR as a clinical intervention. It should also be noted that, more investigation is required to find out about the role of mindfulness meditation in terms of therapeutic aspects with injured athletes.

The role of chronic muscle (in)activity on carnosine homeostasis: a study with spinal-cord injured athletes

To examine the role of chronic (in)activity on muscle carnosine (MCarn) and how chronic (in)activity affects MCarn responses to β-alanine supplementation in spinal-cord injured athletes, sixteen male athletes with paraplegia were randomized (2:1 ratio) to receive β-alanine (n=11) or placebo (PL, n=5). They consumed 6.4 g‧d-1 of β-alanine or PL for 28 days. Muscle biopsies of the active deltoid and the inactive vastus lateralis (VL) were taken before and after supplementation. MCarn in the VL was also compared with the VL of a group of individuals without paraplegia (n=15). MCarn was quantified in whole muscle and in pools of individual fibers by High-performance Liquid Chromatography. MCarn was higher in chronically inactive VL vs. well-trained deltoid (32.0±12.0 vs. 20.5±6.1 mmol‧kg-1 DM; p=0.018). MCarn was higher in inactive vs. active VL (32.0±12.0 vs. 21.2±7.5 mmol‧kg-1 DM; p=0.011). In type-I fibers, MCarn was significantly higher in the inactive VL than in the active deltoid (38.3±4.7 vs. 27.3±11.8 mmol‧kg-1 DM, p=0.014). MCarn increased similarly between inactive VL and active deltoid in the β-alanine group (VL: 68.9±55.1%, p=0.0002; deltoid: 90.5±51.4%, p<0.0001), with no changes in the PL group. MCarn content was higher in the inactive VL than in the active deltoid and the active VL, but this is probably a consequence of fiber type shift (type I to type II) that occurs with chronic inactivity. Chronically inactive muscle showed an increase in MCarn after BA supplementation equally to the active muscle, suggesting that carnosine accretion following β-alanine supplementation is not influenced by muscle inactivity.