What are they feeding kids down here?!

7 June 2013

            Today was amazing to be able to hang out with the team physio, Christiene for the Cheetah’s rugby team. Christiene is incredibly knowledgeable and super cool. We met her out on the university rugby fields where she was strapping some players before their practice. We learned how to strap for shin-splints, quadriceps, and ankles. Once practice began, Christiene informed us that this was the under 19 team for the Cheetah’s and that three players were skilled enough to make it to the Springboks one day. I could not believe how big some of these guys were for being under 19 years old. It was evident that rugby was a way of life, and that these guys were born and raised in the gym. The practice lasted about an hour and within that time three players had to come to the sidelines because of injuries, adding to the four players that were sitting out before practice began. The new casualties included two sprained ankles and one sprained quadriceps.

            After practice, Christiene drove us to her office at the Free-State Stadium (Home of the Cheetah’s). Once at the office, we attended to the three newly injured players, which all required ultrasound and electrode therapy to relax the muscles and sooth the pain in the injured areas. We also witness the very unfortunate case of a rugby player who had been at the peak of his game, having played in two World Cups as the captain of the Springboks, when he tore his Achilles tendon. Due to a series of extremely unfortunate events, this man underwent five surgeries on his Achilles tendon. When we saw him, he had been out of his boot for two weeks and the tendon was very swollen. Christiene showed us how to align the collagen fibers of the tendon, so as to aid in the proper healing of the tendon. Interestingly, we also had a professional soccer player (midfielder) from the Orlando Pirates in Johannesburg. He was treated for tendonosis of the Achilles tendon, with some swelling of the sheath. Additionally, his popliteus muscle was very stiff and was needled so as to relax it. The needles that are used in this therapy are the same as those used in acupuncture but the method of use is completely different. The needles are inserted along the length of the muscle so as to cause twitching contractions in the muscle. Once the muscle stops twitching, then it relaxes completely and stretching can be performed to keep the muscle loose.

            After attending to her patients, Christiene showed us on to the field at the Free-State Stadium and gave us a brief tour. The stadium only seated 46,000 people, which made it one of the smallest in the country. Although it was small, it was very cool to walk on the field and picture yourself in front of thousands of cheering South Africans.