Sports therapy is used for various purposes. These are mainly prevention and rehabilitation. Which exercises and types of sports are suitable depends in particular on the patient’s complaints and underlying diseases.
What is sports therapy?
Sports therapy is used for a variety of purposes. These are mainly prevention and rehabilitation. Sports therapy is a non-drug treatment. Its origins can be traced back to the 19th century. Nowadays it is gaining more and more popularity and application. The ultimate goal of sports therapy is to alleviate, compensate or regenerate psychological and/or physical ailments. Secondary damages can be prevented with the help of exercises. Furthermore, social factors are to be strengthened and the awareness of one’s own health is to be promoted. In addition to the active component, sports therapy itself consists of educational, psychological and sociotherapeutic elements. Body perception, coordination and condition are to be increased within the framework of the various sessions. At the same time, the aspiration of sports therapy is not competitive sports. Instead, it is intended to activate the affected person and help him or her achieve better health. When specific sports therapy is helpful is decided by the doctor. However, the basic regular practice of sports activities can help prevent many ailments.
Function, effect, and goals
The methods of sports therapy are varied. Not every type of sport is suitable for every patient. For example, people who have recently undergone surgery cannot participate in a swimming class, or people with damaged knees cannot jog. Accordingly, it is the task of trained personnel to pick out the right workouts and professionally guide the patient at the beginning. While the doctor orders the therapy, planning and dosage are thus at the discretion of the exercise therapist. Often, the aim of such an approach is to care for the mentally ill, to help them achieve a better life and body image, and to reduce the suffering caused by mental and psychological disorders. Depending on the complaints, the appointments take place in individual sessions or in the context of a smaller group. The cooperation with other patients enables the training of social skills. One of the methods used is concentrative movement therapy. Here, patients are usually given few instructions to implement. Instead, the therapist establishes a connection to the current situation. For example, the approach involves discovering the space, reenacting certain actions, or trying out different gaits. Doing and experiencing is understood by Concentrative Movement Therapy not only as a focus, but also as movement. Patients should be aware of their bodies as well as their actions. After the physical part, the session is worked through verbally. Here, inner as well as outer conflicts, feelings or aspirations are to be discussed. In general, Concentrative Movement Therapy enables participants to learn how to be close to others or to consciously expose individual boundaries. Feelings or anxieties that arise during the interaction may provide clues to mental state. For this reason, it is important that the session always ends with a detailed discussion. One of the goals of therapy is to give those affected an opportunity to express themselves nonverbally. Open communication is difficult for many ill persons. Another method that is often used for medical reasons is integrative movement therapy. Individual appointments are rare; instead, it is an approach that requires interaction with other people. Body, feelings and thoughts are to be consciously perceived. However, sports therapy does not exclusively address mental illness. It also includes exercises that restore mobility after an operation, for example. For example, strengthening the back muscles can be helpful in the case of a slipped disc, and gently bending and stretching the leg after knee surgery.
Risks, side effects and dangers
Complaints are not usually to be expected with sports therapy.On a psychological basis, a patient may not be willing to open up in the group or in general, which may lead to a refusal. Furthermore, it cannot be excluded that the approach does not lead to the hoped-for success. However, it is unlikely that exercise will have a negative effect on the health of the person concerned. However, in the case of sports therapy for the regeneration of physical illnesses, complaints may occur. These occur more often when the physiotherapist gives the patient some exercises to do at home and they are performed incorrectly. Especially in workouts that affect the back or knees, it is often possible to discover application errors that may result in further complaints. For example, it is important that a joint is never fully extended during an exercise, but always maintains a slight inclination in the end and starting position. Furthermore, care should always be taken to maintain a posture in which the back is in a straight line and no hollow back is formed. Otherwise, the development of muscular tension cannot be ruled out. These become noticeable mainly through pain. The affected area is often hardened and, depending on its location, can restrict the movement of certain parts of the body. Excessive early loading in sports therapy of freshly operated joints often results in pain and poor healing of the wound. Especially after knee surgery, the leg should be moved slowly and the joint should not be immediately loaded by flexion.
