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Interesting analysis of unusual injury
Fourth goal hits Davis in the hip pocket
31 March 2004 Herald Sun
SYDNEY will be without key forward Nick Davis for at least the next month after he sustained a hip injury on Saturday night.
Davis was playing a major role against Brisbane and was injured kicking his fourth goal late in the second quarter.
He did not play at all in the second half..
Just as he kicked at goal Davis was slung by Richard Hadley, hyperextending and externally rotating his right hip.
Although it appeared as if he landed heavily on his left buttock, the right hip damage had actually already been done in mid-air. The combination of the muscle trying to contract (shorten) while kicking and at the same time being extended (lengthening), caused the tear.
Davis has torn one of the main hip flexor muscles in his right groin. The muscle is called the psoas muscle and works in combination with other nearby muscles to move the hip towards the chest and rotate the thigh inwards.
It is a powerful muscle running from the front of the lower spine to the inner side of the thigh bone and is important in running, sprinting, jumping and kicking.
Injury to this structure causes pain in the area of the lower abdomen through to the inner thigh.
The psoas is very rarely injured in football and is more commonly known for developing overuse tendonitis in runners.
There have been no documented cases of an acute psoas tear in the AFL injury survey in the past five seasons.
It is usually the quadriceps muscle at the front of the hip that fails when a flexor is torn.
Like all muscle injuries, the time missed from football depends on the amount of tissue damaged and the repair capacity of the muscle.
An MRI scan has shown that Davis has a moderate-sized partial tear (grade 2) and these can take from three to six weeks to settle enough to play at full ability.
His tear is located just above the attachment to the thigh bone at the level of the hip joint. This is more likely to heal faster than a tear at the bone attachment.
Davis will be limited in his weight bearing over the first week and will probably require medication to help with pain and internal swelling.
He will begin light physiotherapy immediately and progress to pool and cycle work as pain allows. If things go well he should run within two or three weeks and then try some jumping and kicking.
The club is hopeful he will return to play in three to four weeks but his right leg is his kicking leg, so he will have to be monitored closely for any soreness at training.
Dr Peter Larkins is a sports physician at the Melbourne Sports Medicine Centre and Lifecare Prahran. A former Olympic runner, he was also a medical officer with Geelong and Adelaide.
Fourth goal hits Davis in the hip pocket
31 March 2004 Herald Sun
SYDNEY will be without key forward Nick Davis for at least the next month after he sustained a hip injury on Saturday night.
Davis was playing a major role against Brisbane and was injured kicking his fourth goal late in the second quarter.
He did not play at all in the second half..
Just as he kicked at goal Davis was slung by Richard Hadley, hyperextending and externally rotating his right hip.
Although it appeared as if he landed heavily on his left buttock, the right hip damage had actually already been done in mid-air. The combination of the muscle trying to contract (shorten) while kicking and at the same time being extended (lengthening), caused the tear.
Davis has torn one of the main hip flexor muscles in his right groin. The muscle is called the psoas muscle and works in combination with other nearby muscles to move the hip towards the chest and rotate the thigh inwards.
It is a powerful muscle running from the front of the lower spine to the inner side of the thigh bone and is important in running, sprinting, jumping and kicking.
Injury to this structure causes pain in the area of the lower abdomen through to the inner thigh.
The psoas is very rarely injured in football and is more commonly known for developing overuse tendonitis in runners.
There have been no documented cases of an acute psoas tear in the AFL injury survey in the past five seasons.
It is usually the quadriceps muscle at the front of the hip that fails when a flexor is torn.
Like all muscle injuries, the time missed from football depends on the amount of tissue damaged and the repair capacity of the muscle.
An MRI scan has shown that Davis has a moderate-sized partial tear (grade 2) and these can take from three to six weeks to settle enough to play at full ability.
His tear is located just above the attachment to the thigh bone at the level of the hip joint. This is more likely to heal faster than a tear at the bone attachment.
Davis will be limited in his weight bearing over the first week and will probably require medication to help with pain and internal swelling.
He will begin light physiotherapy immediately and progress to pool and cycle work as pain allows. If things go well he should run within two or three weeks and then try some jumping and kicking.
The club is hopeful he will return to play in three to four weeks but his right leg is his kicking leg, so he will have to be monitored closely for any soreness at training.
Dr Peter Larkins is a sports physician at the Melbourne Sports Medicine Centre and Lifecare Prahran. A former Olympic runner, he was also a medical officer with Geelong and Adelaide.
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