Is your child at risk for sports-related injuries?
There’s a study being conducted at the Hartford HealthCare Bone & Joint Institute in partnership with Quinnipiac University to prevent injury. Sarah Emlaw is a physical therapist with the Center for Musculoskeletal Health at the Bone & Joint Institute.
Q: Tell us about the study
A: We are looking to create a database of information of high school athletes and their baseline functional movement patterns. This information we can use so if patients do sustain an injury during their season, we have something to compare where they were at when we are rehabbing them and how to even get them over it better. That baseline measure we can also be used as a preventative measure to try and refrain from getting injured. Those baseline measurements are so important.
Q: What is your goal for this study?
A: Our goal is to try and reduce the injury occurrence by 30 percent over the next three years for high school athletes.
Q: What can someone expect should they participate in this study?
A: The athletes will be asked to go through numerous functional and dynamic testing that looks at how they are moving in their sports. They simulate a lot of the movements that their sports are requiring of them and that’s basically it.
Q: Are there any risk to participating in this?
A: The risks are actually really minimal. All tests are non-invasive; there is no needles used or skin breakage. the dynamic and functional movements that we’re gonna have them do during the testing, they may get a little bit of muscle soreness or a muscle strain, but nothing that won’t go away in a couple days. Also, if we do have them come into our motion analysis lab to look at how they’re moving and the quality of their movement, we hook them up to little skin sensors that are just a sticky and if they have any sensitivities to the sticky adhesives, then they make it a rash.
Need more information on this study? CALL 1-855-HHC-HERE (1.855.442.4373).