Sports Therapy Research with The RFU
Sports Therapy lecturer Sadie Jones from the Centre for Sports Studies has started an exciting PhD journey. Sadie’s PhD will be with The Rugby Football Union (RFU) and focus on hamstring injuries. Hamstring injuries are a significant problem in English Rugby Union. During the 2002-2003 and 2003-2004 season the incidence of hamstring injuries was 0.27 hamstring injuries per 1000 player training hours and 5.6 hamstring injuries per 1000 player match hours (Brooks et al., 2006).
The seasonal burden of hamstring injuries that is placed on clubs is significant, with 7 injuries and 123 days’ lost time per club, per season. For the coaching team this is important to know due to selection and competition demands and the impact they will have on the team’s success and performance. For the medical support team this creates a substantial amount of time taken up in the management of hamstring injuries each season.
The highest incidence of hamstring injuries is in non-contact situations (Brooks et al., 2006). This is highly relevant as it means they are potentially more amenable to prevention than contact-related injuries.
Hamstring injuries are associated with a high recurrence rate. In the 2002-2003 and 2003-2004 seasons 23% of injuries were recurrent hamstring injuries. These tended to be more severe resulting in an average of 25 days lost per season. Also of note, 59% of the recurrent hamstring injuries occurred within the first month of return from hamstring injury.
Currently little is known about what happens during hamstring injury treatment and rehabilitation and how this relates to potential injury prevention of hamstring injuries in Elite English Rugby Union. Consequently, there is a need to evaluate current treatment and rehabilitation practice. Then, to incorporate this knowledge into the design and implementation of prevention strategies aimed at reducing the incidence of recurrent hamstring injuries.
The first study, entitled Management of hamstring injuries in elite English Rugby Union: A survey of current practice, will involve Sadie working alongside the Doctors, Physiotherapists and Strength & Conditioners from the 12 English Premiership Clubs and England.
