Athletic trainers are unique health care providers who specialize in the prevention, assessment, treatment and rehabilitation of injuries and illnesses.
Athletic Trainer, Ian Hurlburt shares his thoughts on concussions in sports, orthopedic injuries and rehab, and speaks about new regulations for athletes to prevent injuries.
Selected Podcast
Athletic Training 101
Featured Speaker:
Ian Hurlburt, MS
Rochester Regional Health athletic trainer Ian Hurlburt is a professionally trained expert and keeps athletes at peak performance while helping them avoid common sports injuries. Centered at Finger Lakes Community College, Ian is a trainer for most of their athletic programs. Transcription:
Athletic Training 101
Bill Klaproth (Host): Athletic trainers are unique healthcare providers who specialize in the prevention, assessment, treatment, and rehabilitation of injuries and illnesses. Rochester Regional Health Athletic Trainer Ian Hurlburt is here to share his thoughts about concussions in sports, orthopedic injuries and rehab, and talks about new regulations for athletics to prevent injuries. Ian, thanks for your time today we appreciate it. So first off what is the most common sports injury that athletes need to watch out for?
Ian Hurlburt (Guest): I would say one of the most common injuries that is present in the media today would be an injury to the ACL or the anterior cruciate ligament. That’s a very common injury to happen. Unfortunately, it can be a very devastating injury for an athlete but with the advances and technology that we have today it’s an injury that they can come back from and continue their athletic career or continue at a high level if they so wish to. I would say that’s one of the most common injuries that’s talked about today.
Bill: Are there ways to strengthen the knee or stretch to help avoid an ACL injury?
Ian: I hesitate to say that there are hard and fast ways to avoid injuries. Unfortunately, if injuries are going to happen they are sometimes unavoidable. But there are certain things that you can do to help limit your exposure or maybe limit the likelihood of an injury. Specific strengthening of muscles around the knee or the ACL specifically can help with limiting the likelihood that you’re going to have this injury. Proper form and technique when it comes to running, landing, cutting those types of things are a big part in trying to prevent an ACL injury or any injury for that matter. Proper form and proper technique are what we try to coach as athletic trainers. They are coming with different strength programs, but the best route is just to take an overall approach to strengthening the knee and the surrounding muscles around it.
Bill: And then pay attention to proper form and technique which will make you a better athlete anyways. So Ian let me ask you about concussions in sports, especially in football. It certainly is a highly debated topic. What do we need to know what concussions for young athletes?
Ian: It definitely is a very debated topic. The first thing that I like to educate athletes and parents on is that you think of a concussion as any other sort of contusion. Or any sort of bruise. If you were to bruise your arm, very similar kind of thing that’s happening in the brain. And really the biggest thing that you need is rest. If you have a bruise on your arm it hurts for a couple days when you use it and so you kind of avoid using it and slowly start to begin to regain that movement. That’s a very simple way of putting it, but that’s the first way I like to try and explain it. The media has kind of made the concussion epidemic seem like it’s a life and death situation and while there are situations when it can be, there are certain more common situations of where the extremes of outcomes are not seen and the athletes and children are just fine after seeking the appropriate medical attention.
Bill: And speaking of concussions, Ian, can you talk about the other sports in concussions and potentially equipment or techniques in those sports to try and help avoid concussions?
Ian: I think that they’ve made great strides in the equipment in not only football but in other sports as well. You’ll now see helmets being worn in sports that maybe they weren’t before. Women’s lacrosse is a perfect example where at the youth levels and now even at the high school levels you’ll see athletes wearing helmets to protect from any blows to the head. You will see in soccer sometimes goalies and now field players will wear something that looks similar to a rugby cap that rugby players will wear to try and lessen the blow to the head whether it be from a player or from the ball specifically. Hockey is another sport that’s kind of getting on the bandwagon so to speak with updating their helmets and trying to get them to be more effective. And football is kind of the gold standard at this point of where the other sports want to be. As I say that, football is also always trying to limit the impact from the head injuries and because they have arguably the most head contact and the most violent contact from their sport.
Bill: And when it comes to orthopedic injuries, shoulders, elbows, ankles, what do we need to know about precaution and subsequent rehab?
Ian: So I think rehabilitation a lot of people think of it as after the fact, after the injury. And there’s a lot of rehabilitation measures that can be taken to help prevent an injury or like I said before to lessen the likelihood of an injury. When you think specifically of elbow injuries or shoulder injuries for an upper extremity sport there are many methods to strengthen those areas in the body that are maybe underutilized in everyday life or to counteract the demands of a sport. For example, with an overhead athlete you tend to get overuse of certain muscles in the front of the shoulder which may lead to issues in the shoulder itself. The best way to combat this sometimes is to strengthen the muscles that aren’t used repetitively in the motion that they do in the sport, such as maybe trying to what you call reverse the effects of their sport and the demands that their sport puts on those athletes and those shoulders or elbows. Another thing and I know I touched on this before but form tends to be something that is often overlooked whether it be a sports specific movement such as coaching from a pitching coach or seeking out a rehab professional when it comes to jumping, landing, cutting and those types of things, form tends to be a big component to the reason that athletes are succumbing to these overuse injuries.
Bill: I think those are great tips to help kids avoid sports injuries, try to prepare underutilized muscles of the body and then pay attention to form and mechanics. That is so important. And Ian, let me ask you this, what do you do then to help athletes reach their peak performance?
Ian: Well as an athletic trainer I have a unique set of skills that allow me not only to recognize injuries or recognize faulty mechanics but to also have the tools to be able to correct these things for athletes. My athletes specifically I try and have them on a regimented off season program to try and keep any of these overuse injuries from developing. But there are also screens and patterns of movement that you look for that may predispose an athlete to any injury. I will look to address this whether again that be through strengthening, soft tissue work, stretching, or form correction. And I’m in a unique position where I am able to be right there with their coach as well. So their coach and I both give feedback to the athlete and we give feedback to each other to be able to help the athlete as best we can.
Bill: So it’s a coordinated effort then which sounds great and every young athlete would like to have someone like you watching their form and technique and coaching them on the proper way to get better at their sport. Ian if you can wrap it up for us, is there anything else we should know about injury prevention in athletics?
Ian: To put a bow on it and wrap it all up into one kind of statement, unfortunately injuries are a part of sports and some are unavoidable but doing the best you can to educate yourself on ways to avoid common injuries and overuse injuries is one piece of advice I could give to all athletes and their parents out there. To educate yourself on injuries and ask the right questions to the people that you have available to you at your school or with your team.
Bill: And being a better informed athlete certainly will help. Well Ian thank you again I really appreciate it. You’re listening to Rock Your Health radio with Rochester Regional Health. For more information, you can go to RochesterRegional.org. I’m Bill Klaproth thanks for listening.
Athletic Training 101
Bill Klaproth (Host): Athletic trainers are unique healthcare providers who specialize in the prevention, assessment, treatment, and rehabilitation of injuries and illnesses. Rochester Regional Health Athletic Trainer Ian Hurlburt is here to share his thoughts about concussions in sports, orthopedic injuries and rehab, and talks about new regulations for athletics to prevent injuries. Ian, thanks for your time today we appreciate it. So first off what is the most common sports injury that athletes need to watch out for?
Ian Hurlburt (Guest): I would say one of the most common injuries that is present in the media today would be an injury to the ACL or the anterior cruciate ligament. That’s a very common injury to happen. Unfortunately, it can be a very devastating injury for an athlete but with the advances and technology that we have today it’s an injury that they can come back from and continue their athletic career or continue at a high level if they so wish to. I would say that’s one of the most common injuries that’s talked about today.
Bill: Are there ways to strengthen the knee or stretch to help avoid an ACL injury?
Ian: I hesitate to say that there are hard and fast ways to avoid injuries. Unfortunately, if injuries are going to happen they are sometimes unavoidable. But there are certain things that you can do to help limit your exposure or maybe limit the likelihood of an injury. Specific strengthening of muscles around the knee or the ACL specifically can help with limiting the likelihood that you’re going to have this injury. Proper form and technique when it comes to running, landing, cutting those types of things are a big part in trying to prevent an ACL injury or any injury for that matter. Proper form and proper technique are what we try to coach as athletic trainers. They are coming with different strength programs, but the best route is just to take an overall approach to strengthening the knee and the surrounding muscles around it.
Bill: And then pay attention to proper form and technique which will make you a better athlete anyways. So Ian let me ask you about concussions in sports, especially in football. It certainly is a highly debated topic. What do we need to know what concussions for young athletes?
Ian: It definitely is a very debated topic. The first thing that I like to educate athletes and parents on is that you think of a concussion as any other sort of contusion. Or any sort of bruise. If you were to bruise your arm, very similar kind of thing that’s happening in the brain. And really the biggest thing that you need is rest. If you have a bruise on your arm it hurts for a couple days when you use it and so you kind of avoid using it and slowly start to begin to regain that movement. That’s a very simple way of putting it, but that’s the first way I like to try and explain it. The media has kind of made the concussion epidemic seem like it’s a life and death situation and while there are situations when it can be, there are certain more common situations of where the extremes of outcomes are not seen and the athletes and children are just fine after seeking the appropriate medical attention.
Bill: And speaking of concussions, Ian, can you talk about the other sports in concussions and potentially equipment or techniques in those sports to try and help avoid concussions?
Ian: I think that they’ve made great strides in the equipment in not only football but in other sports as well. You’ll now see helmets being worn in sports that maybe they weren’t before. Women’s lacrosse is a perfect example where at the youth levels and now even at the high school levels you’ll see athletes wearing helmets to protect from any blows to the head. You will see in soccer sometimes goalies and now field players will wear something that looks similar to a rugby cap that rugby players will wear to try and lessen the blow to the head whether it be from a player or from the ball specifically. Hockey is another sport that’s kind of getting on the bandwagon so to speak with updating their helmets and trying to get them to be more effective. And football is kind of the gold standard at this point of where the other sports want to be. As I say that, football is also always trying to limit the impact from the head injuries and because they have arguably the most head contact and the most violent contact from their sport.
Bill: And when it comes to orthopedic injuries, shoulders, elbows, ankles, what do we need to know about precaution and subsequent rehab?
Ian: So I think rehabilitation a lot of people think of it as after the fact, after the injury. And there’s a lot of rehabilitation measures that can be taken to help prevent an injury or like I said before to lessen the likelihood of an injury. When you think specifically of elbow injuries or shoulder injuries for an upper extremity sport there are many methods to strengthen those areas in the body that are maybe underutilized in everyday life or to counteract the demands of a sport. For example, with an overhead athlete you tend to get overuse of certain muscles in the front of the shoulder which may lead to issues in the shoulder itself. The best way to combat this sometimes is to strengthen the muscles that aren’t used repetitively in the motion that they do in the sport, such as maybe trying to what you call reverse the effects of their sport and the demands that their sport puts on those athletes and those shoulders or elbows. Another thing and I know I touched on this before but form tends to be something that is often overlooked whether it be a sports specific movement such as coaching from a pitching coach or seeking out a rehab professional when it comes to jumping, landing, cutting and those types of things, form tends to be a big component to the reason that athletes are succumbing to these overuse injuries.
Bill: I think those are great tips to help kids avoid sports injuries, try to prepare underutilized muscles of the body and then pay attention to form and mechanics. That is so important. And Ian, let me ask you this, what do you do then to help athletes reach their peak performance?
Ian: Well as an athletic trainer I have a unique set of skills that allow me not only to recognize injuries or recognize faulty mechanics but to also have the tools to be able to correct these things for athletes. My athletes specifically I try and have them on a regimented off season program to try and keep any of these overuse injuries from developing. But there are also screens and patterns of movement that you look for that may predispose an athlete to any injury. I will look to address this whether again that be through strengthening, soft tissue work, stretching, or form correction. And I’m in a unique position where I am able to be right there with their coach as well. So their coach and I both give feedback to the athlete and we give feedback to each other to be able to help the athlete as best we can.
Bill: So it’s a coordinated effort then which sounds great and every young athlete would like to have someone like you watching their form and technique and coaching them on the proper way to get better at their sport. Ian if you can wrap it up for us, is there anything else we should know about injury prevention in athletics?
Ian: To put a bow on it and wrap it all up into one kind of statement, unfortunately injuries are a part of sports and some are unavoidable but doing the best you can to educate yourself on ways to avoid common injuries and overuse injuries is one piece of advice I could give to all athletes and their parents out there. To educate yourself on injuries and ask the right questions to the people that you have available to you at your school or with your team.
Bill: And being a better informed athlete certainly will help. Well Ian thank you again I really appreciate it. You’re listening to Rock Your Health radio with Rochester Regional Health. For more information, you can go to RochesterRegional.org. I’m Bill Klaproth thanks for listening.