1. PHED 3 Exercise Physiology Injury Rehabilitation
A2 PE
PHED 3
Exercise Physiology
Injury Rehabilitation

2. Sport Rehabilitation

3. Why do we use sports rehabilitation?
Athletes, coaches and physiotherapists all aim to successfully rehabilitate the injured performer.
Performer will be allowed to return to training as quickly as possible and minimise fitness losses.
Variety of methods can be used to help athlete to recover from injuries such as the following;

4. Types we will be addressing…
Oxygen tent
Hyperbaric chambers
Ice baths

5. Oxygen (hypoxic) Tent;
Used to mimic conditions of high altitude and are used by performers to maintain fitness levels while injured
Widely used by endurance athletes in order to mimic the environmental conditions of altitude. Oxygen tents help to rehabilitate the injured performer by replicating low-oxygen conditions.
It causes the body the body of the athlete to produce more red blood cells rich with haemoglobin resulting in more O2 being transported around the body maintaining cardiovascular fitness despite injury.
All in all oxygen tents are therefore used to preserve the fitness of the injured athlete rather than to treat the injury itself. Usually used when the athlete has injury to the legs or feet.

6. Hyperbaric Chambers These chambers can recover:
A Hyperbaric Chamber is a chamber that delivers 100% pure oxygen at very high pressure to promote recovery of injured athletes.
Oxygen given in a hyperbaric chamber is 2.5 times greater than normal atmospheric pressure.
Haemoglobin within red blood cells quickly become fully saturated with oxygen. Any excess oxygen is dissolved into plasma component of the blood.
With the use of these chambers, there is improved blood supply, an increased formation of new blood cells and faster rate of cell turnover enhancing growth and repair of tissue cells.
These chambers can recover:
Soft tissue (muscular) injuries and oedema (swelling).
Tissue infections
Tendon and ligament damage.

7. Ice Baths; ( more of a recovery method that rehabilitation)
Used by a variety of athletes; from marathon runners to Rugby players, this is the immersion of performer’s body ‘usually legs’ in ice cold water which is believed to reduce muscle soreness and tissue swelling that accompanies hard training and competition and DOMS which are accompanied by micro trauma .
Thus, allowing for an even and controlled constriction of blood vessels which surround all the muscles. Effectively squeezing and draining waste products and blood from the submersed area.
On exit from the ice bath, after about 6 minutes of being submersed, we can see that this invokes a blood rush. Thereby flushing the muscle with fresh oxygenated blood carrying the nutrients and components necessary to revitalise the damage and sore tissue. This would allow a sports performer to recover from hard training and competition quickly.

8. Past Questions
How may Hyperbaric Chambers aid injury rehabilitation? 3marks, June 2012
How can a performer reduce the effects of delayed onset of muscle soreness (DOMS)? (3 marks, June 11)