Niggles? Twinges? Joint or muscle stiffness? These are often just signs of minor injuries which will resolve themselves. But if you have a niggle or twinge which never seems to go away, maybe you should get it checked out to make sure you’re not in for something more serious. I speak from experience, here is my story:
I’ve played one sport or another pretty well all my life, but the sport I got the most serious about was rugby. Beginning with a club in New Zealand at age 14, I played rugby for almost ten years, loving every hit and showing off every bruise. Because I was so young when I started, I never thought much about the injuries I sustained, never seeking treatment and forgetting about them as soon as the pain went away. At age 16, I started getting twinges in my right shoulder whenever I threw a ball or played overhead sports, but again never worried about it, as the pain always went away quickly. Over time, the twinges got worse, the pain hung around for longer periods of time, and gradually I began getting pain even with activities which were not overhead, such as passing a rugby ball. At age 17, I dislocated my shoulder during the first ten minutes of the first game of a rugby tournament and had to sit out for the rest of the competition. Would you believe that I still did not seek treatment? My shoulder relocated itself, and stopped hurting after a couple of weeks, so I thought I was okay.
Over the following year, I dislocated my shoulder at least once a game, and no longer felt any pain from it, as I had gradually stretched out the ligaments in my shoulder to the point where nothing was damaged during the dislocation. I even occasionally woke up in the morning with my shoulder dislocated, just from having slept with my arm overhead. Despite no longer having pain, I couldn’t tackle on my right side anymore, as my shoulder had completely lost all strength. So, at age 18, I had reconstructive surgery to tighten the ligaments. This was followed by months of physical therapy to restore normal strength and movement to the joint, and it took me a year to be able to return to rugby.
Had I sought treatment at any point prior to the first dislocation, I could have avoided surgery, because at that point, I simply needed to strengthen the shoulder. Obviously, the best time to get my shoulder checked out would have been back when I was 16, when it was just ‘twinging’ and before I began stretching out the ligaments.
So, before your next sports season starts come in to Joint Ventures for a free injury screen to see if your niggles and twinges are just minor problems which will resolve themselves, or if they could be a sign of a bigger injury to come.
If you have any questions about your own story, or would like more information about our free screenings, please contact me at Anna@JointVenturesPT.com