PREVIOUS INJURY IS A BIG PLAYER IN THE MOVEMENT GAME!
One of my clients, who is a keen diver, tells me whenever he swims or dives he usually always gets pretty bad cramping in his right hamstring towards the end of the swim/dive and wandered if there was anything he could do for it.
After a couple of minutes of assessment I had discovered he had a hamstring to quad dysfunction & his hamstrings were compensating for his medial quadricep (Vastus Medialis) predominantly. His VMO muscle (Oblique fibres of the Vastus Medialis that form the teardrop muscle at the knee) was particularly weak and had some noticeable wasting. His quadriceps in general on the Right side were slightly wasted in comparison to the Left.
He then precedes to tell me when he was 15 years old (+-50 years ago) he tore his medial quad & never got treatment on it, there was a noticeable dip in the muscle bulk as well which had been there ever since (a give away for a full tear or a possible partial tear). EUREKA!
So our findings related back to an ancient injury from decades ago that has manifested as dysfunction in his right side and causing him problems at this time. He admitted never having issues after the injury healed and kept playing footy for years.
Moral of the story, even though his injury was decades old and he'd adapted to it in a way that enabled him to get away without too much trouble for many years, it eventually comes back to bite you in the ass! Some cases being worse than others but don't ride on dysfunction for too long as it will always win! Post injury compensations stay with you for life, unless of course, you seek help to change them!
