Cricket is a very active game and requires lots of running, jumping, diving, and other movements. That’s why cricket players are very prone to injuring their knees during fielding, bowling, or batting. While fielding there are possibilities of muscle strain, falling on the knee cap that causes the fracture to it, being hit by a ball, and repetitive load can cause ligament injuries. Knee injuries that are common in cricket are- patellar Tendinopathy, Ligament tear, Meniscus injury, Patellar fracture or femoral stress fracture, and other injuries. The most common injury in the knee in cricket occurs when a player is bowling while landing bowlers are constantly twisting & putting extreme force on the knee joint. This can result in a sprain or strain.
PHYSIOTHERAPY MANAGEMENT FOR KNEE INJURIES IN CRICKET is- There are lots of advanced modalities for cricket player to relieve from injury and for their sports-specific training like-
- Extracorporeal Shock WaveTherapy (ECSWT)
- Targeted Radiofrequency Therapy(TR-Therapy)
- Class IV Laser therapy
- Super Inductive System (SIS)
- Cryo Air,
- Wireless Professional.
- Strengthening Exercises for knee muscles (like- squatting, lunges, hamstring curls)
- Eccentric Exercises.
- Strengthening Exercises calf muscles
- Core strengthening Exercises (Planks, crunches, leg raise)
- Stretching (stretching of hip flexors, IT-Band stretching, gluteal stretching)
- Muscle Release Technique
- Conditioning of muscles
- Balance training
- Proprioception and coordination exercise
- Agility & plyometric training
- Sports specific drills
- Applying Kinesio Tape for joint stabilization