Spire st anthony’s launches sports injury clinic

We are becoming a nation of cyclists, runners, weekend league team sports players and even competitors in ultra-challenges; Britain has caught the fitness bug. The team at Spire St Anthony’s have been treating athletes of all abilities and from all sports for many years and has recently launched a specialist Sports Injury Clinic to help patients get a faster diagnosis and course of treatment. One 30 minute consultation with a sports physiotherapist will diagnose the injury and direct patients to an effective treatment, with no GP referral required. At the Spire St Anthony’s Sports Injury Clinic, patients will access to the region’s leading sports medicine specialists and sports injury consultants who are all experts in their fields and have extensive clinical experience managing sports injuries. Patients will gain access to diagnostic ultrasound and MRI scans, performed and reported by specialist sports and musculoskeletal radiologists, either same day or within 48 hours of their initial appointment. Charlotte Summers, Head of Physiotherapy at Spire St Anthony’s Hospital explains: “We know that fast diagnosis and recovery is what people want. They want to return to their achieved levels of fitness and performance as soon as possible with minimal disruption. Some severe sports injuries such as a torn ACL (knee ligament) can require orthopaedic surgery. An early diagnosis and referral to an orthopaedic surgeon means that athletes start post-operative rehabilitation sooner, ultimately decreasing the length of time away from their sport. “Physiotherapy and individualised rehabilitation programmes are key to a full recovery from sports injuries and orthopaedic surgery. It is really important you regain full strength through your whole body, target any reduction in balance and body awareness whilst ensuring that your exercise programme is adapted to prepare your body to return to your specific sporting activity.” Mr Kumar Kunasingam is a foot and ankle Orthopaedic Surgeon at Spire St Anthony’s. He also has a specialist qualification in sports medicine. “The benefit of this new clinic is its unique access. No patient will wait weeks or months to be seen, instead a more pleasant and peaceful review will be undertaken at an appointment to see a focused specialist who will help diagnose, reassure and start immediate management. There will be no need to visit A&E for an unfortunately predictable long wait, and no initial treatment followed by a later review. A specialist physiotherapist or consultant orthopaedic surgeon will make a full diagnosis or initiate and predict accurately a course of treatment. This wonderful niche resource aims to start your recovery right from first contact! Having been on both sides of this fence we have aimed to trim the fat and get patients fixed fast!" “Following the recent £30m investment, this hospital offers surgeons the very latest facilities and our patients benefit enormously. For example, my less invasive technique for a torn or ruptured Achilles tendon, a very common sports injury, traditionally took six months to recover from following extensive surgery. Now I’m seeing patients active again in as little as 8-10 weeks post-surgery and a bespoke physiotherapy plan. “This day case procedure involves making relatively small incisions down the back of the tendon and gets it realigned, back into continuity and moving again. The tendon itself has a poor blood supply in this area and hence the reason the Achilles can cause patients so much trouble. The game changer is that this procedure effectively steals the blood supply from a neighbouring muscle, bathing and nurturing the fixed rupture in nutrients promoting rapid healing.” Medical experts are warning people to be aware, whatever their sport and levels of fitness, and not to fall foul of injury and end up with a lengthy weekend wait in A&E. The enthusiastic increase in activity means specialists are witnessing significant increases in sports injuries ranging from a sprained ankle to torn ligaments. For more information, or to book an appointment with a sports physiotherapist at Spire St Anthony’s Hospital Tel: 0208 335 4646 or to make an enquiry, complete this form. Spire St Anthony’s Hospital - 801 London Road, Sutton SM3 9DW, United Kingdom To speak to Charlotte, please email felicity@knightscommunications.com. Sports injury clinic times - Monday 4.00pm-6.00pm and Thursday 7.30am-9.00am Outside of these times the physiotherapists can still assess and treat sports injuries, however, patients benefit from a specific clinic running at these times along with promotional pricing.