League Medic Issue 1

Issue 1: Summer 2012

The official magazine of the League Medical Association

The LMedA Story

Where we’re coming from and where we’re going LMedAbroad Life in abu Dhabi was worth a shot for physio Nick

Sport Scientist United New body to represent professionals in football

Compliant EEC 93/42 Directive

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Contents Welcome

Editors letter

4 A message from our CEO 5 The LMedA story

Editorials 6 Touchline Rants 7 On the Couch with...

John Dickens

8 Science in Sport

by Jon Goodman

9 One the Move 10 Administration Who’s next

13 RJW: The letters of the Law

Welcome to the launch issue of League Medic, the magazine for all medical, science and exercise personnel in professional football.

Finally, you have a voice!

We’ll be bringing you comprehensive coverage of the latest industry news, as well as fascinating features about leading figures in the footballing world. Our team of legal experts will also be on hand to offer plenty of help and advice on all the

issues affecting your career.

Our members are doing some incredible work and there are a lot of success stories out there. We’re ‘kicking off’ the first issue with an inspirational tale from Nick Worth, who left a successful career as a Premier League physio to move to Al Jazira FC in Abu Dhabi. Find out how he’s faring on page 11.

We’d love you to share your news and experiences with your fellow LMedA members. Perhaps you’re moving on to pastures new and would like to let readers know about your new job? Maybe you’ve got some top medical tips to share. Whatever your news, we’d love to hear from you. You can drop us a line at info@lmeda. co.uk

We hope you enjoy this first issue and we welcome your feedback,

Janine

15 A Day in the Life of...

Nick Worth

Courses 20 HE seminars

League Medic Magazine Gisburn Road Barrowford Lancs BB9 8PT

E: info@lmeda.co.uk T: (01282)614505 W: www.lmeda.co.uk

Editor

Janine Nelson

Chief Executive Officer

Eamonn Salmon

Senior Administrator

Lindsay McGlynn

Administrator

IT

Nicola Holly

Francis Joseph

Design

Red-Fern Media Solutions

Marketing/Advertising

Charles Whitney

23 Physio UK 24 Wellbeing

Feature 25 Acupuncture in Sport

www.red-fern.co.uk (01582) 659555

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CEO: Welcome

Welcome

A message from the office

The L

Where we’re co

Finally medical, science and exercise personnel have a support network and independent representative body to address the issues that concern them in their day-to- day work in Professional Football.

Welcome to the inaugural edition of the League Medical Association magazine. Focusing on our members, and largely contributed to by these same members, we hope to bring the medical, science and exercise community together through a series of interviews, news and updates on our day-to-day work in Professional Football. This is a natural extension to our past newsletters and I hope exemplifies our growth as an Association over the past 12 months. There is a huge amount of work going on behind the scenes and I would personally like to take this opportunity to thank Lindsay and Nicola in our office for their endeavours and patience. Also thanks go to Maggie McInerney, who is known by many of you, and who has been a terrific support and guide as we have grown and developed this past year.

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So, this is the first time we, as a community, have had access to an “insider” magazine. I recall from my distant past in football how we are all keen to hear of any ‘goings on’ in the game – who’s gone, where, any jobs going, who`s been sacked? Why? What’s the latest news? Well this is your chance to keep up to date with what’s happening in your industry.

And, more importantly, your opportunity to voice concerns and address topics that you think are relevant in today’s game. I think this and subsequent editions will speak for themselves in terms of what the e-magazine is about and I hope this venture helps to cement our personal and professional relationships with each other as a community and within the game itself.

Eamonn Salmon

CEO, League Medical Association

Times have changed since clubs employed a single physiotherapist to cover all the medical needs. Indeed those were the days when we were forced to undertake extended roles in many ways, acting as orthopaedic GPs in dishing out medicines, ordering x-rays and MRI scans and generally attending to colds, flu and anything else players could throw at us!

And, before we begin to look at the explosion in medical staff since the early 90s, let us remember that such roles still exist in the game today, and especially in the cash-strapped lower divisions. Our colleagues here still work seven days a week, engrossed in the aforementioned workload with little or no back-up.

The early 90s saw a huge change in the perception of the medical staff, and their value was finally recognised for the credit it deserves. This sea change had to do with money of course. With the advent of Sky’s input and with a single point being the difference in terms of millions of pounds, getting a top player back for even one game could make all the difference to the bank balance of clubs. Surely, therefore, investment in the best medical set-up was financially astute?

Then, litigation began to rear its ugly head. With only one member of staff to call on, A team games often

LMedA: Who we are

Welcome

LMedA story

oming from and where we’re going.

“Officially launched in April 2011, LMedA has grown thanks to those who have made an active contribution by subscribing as a member.”

featuring some first team players often went ahead with no medical cover at all. Surely a broken leg or, worse still, a head injury would spark shouts of negligence on behalf of clubs who failed to provide medical cover for this and other games?

And so, with this the scenario facing clubs, an explosion of medical staff took place to the extent that some clubs now have 20+ staff on their books, while even lower league clubs have access to four or five staff.

Whatever your position, your job is an arduous and demanding one with little or no time to address your personal and professional needs.

While our profiles and numbers have increased exponentially, many issues have remained untouched – contracts, employment issues, legal concerns, scope of practice etc, etc, etc.

LMedA has successfully emerged on the back of this dispiriting gathering of issues and, after due consultation with those in the game, we are already having an impact.

“It’s been tried before but no one’s managed to keep it going” “We need an independent network to look at matters for us” “it would be great to bring everyone together and sort things out”

So we did! Officially launched in April 2011, LMedA has grown thanks to those who have made an active contribution by subscribing as a member. Their efforts will be felt by all since they have given LMedA the impetus to get things off the ground and improve our lot. It’s time for everyone to get involved and not leave it to others.

Now that we are up and running there are so many avenues which we need to develop. We are currently compiling contracts that we have received and will soon have a benchmark contract in place which

protects and looks after our members’ interests. Sure, some clubs may not use it initially but it at least acts as a guideline and ensures that we are all privy to equality whether in the Premier League or Conference, physiotherapist or sports scientist.

Indeed this is a theme that is firmly threaded within LMedA – that colleagues should be given due representation regardless of which division they are involved in.

Each and every member is equally important to us, and we want those struggling on their own seven days a week in the Conference to have the same working procedures and guidelines as those in the Premier.

A player’s medical should ostensibly be the same whatever the league. A member’s contract should be the same (save the financial terms).

CPD and educational needs are clearly identical. Working conditions should be as close as possible and medical screening, for example, could be standardised.

To this end we will work on providing guidelines so that a system of parity exists for all Members. Guidelines can become recommendation, recommendation can become regulation.

Finally...

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Touchline Rants

Editorials

Handshakes Following the recent lengthy discussions about handshakes between players – what about between medical staff of opposing teams?

Diary Dates

It used to be commonplace that, after the game had finished, the medical team from the opposition were able to share a quick bottle of beer that had been chilling in the treatment room ice machine throughout the game. It rarely seems

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to happen these days! The players start moaning about getting onto the coach and setting off for the journey home straight away – they must need to get back to watch The X-Factor on a Saturday evening complete with takeaway. Sometimes the medical staff only shake hands with their mates from opposing teams. It’s a shame as it’s a real missed opportunity to network. At the next away game you work at, try and seek out the medical staff from the home team – and I

mean everyone. Before you leave, pop into the treatment room and acquaint yourself with the other masseurs, physios, doctors and sports science staff. You may get lucky and make some good new contacts – or just have a whinge about your players!!!

Maybe there should be an LMedA secret handshake to distinguish members to each other? So if I see some dodgy handshakes flying around in the coming weeks, at least LMedA members have an excuse now…

15th August

England v Italy

18th August

Season Kick off !

7th September

England v Moldova

11th September

England v Ukraine

14th October

ACL Rehab Reading

14th October

Ankle Ligament Disruption Bury St Edmunds

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Contact info@lmeda.co.uk for more information

On the couch with... John Dickens

Editorials

physiotherapist in 1980 Sheffield Hallam University, MSc degree in sports physiotherapy in 2000

How did you get into football?

Profession.

Head physiotherapist, Doncaster Rovers

Where did you train? What course? When?

Combined Training Institute, Heath Park University of Wales, Cardiff, graduated as a remedial gymnast in 1976 Nottingham School of Physiotherapy, University Hospital Nottingham, graduated as a chartered

My first job was in the health service and I did part-time nonleague football for Kettering Town and Rushden & Diamonds. I applied for my first head physio job in 1984.

Talk us through your career to date.

My first head physiotherapist job was at Portsmouth, followed by AFC Bournemouth. Then my wife got a job in America so I worked in sports medicine and orthopaedics in Texas, South Carolina and Michigan

for three years before moving back to the UK. Since then I’ve worked as head physio at Huddersfield Town and Sheffield Wednesday, before coming to Doncaster Rovers in 2006.

How’s the job going at the moment?

It’s going ok. We’ve had a lot of injured players but it’s back down to the normal four or five at the moment.

What’s your long-term career plan?

I haven’t really got one! I’ve no idea what I want to do next. I’d like to carry on here and see how things develop.

Dream job.

I can’t really think of a dream job as such but what I would like to do at some point is a PhD. My Masters degree was in groin disruption and, if my football career came to an end, I’d like to do something along the same lines for my PhD. I’m also very interested in golfing injuries, so maybe I would pursue that.

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Science in Sport Association

Editorials

Sport Scientists United Sports science is a relatively new area for professional football – but one which is growing fast.

A few decades ago, it was unheard of for a club to employ a performance analyst, a nutritionist, a psychologist or a strengthening and conditioning coach. But now they are a viewed as crucial members of the backroom staff, bringing vital support to the players.

Until very recently this growing body of professionals have not had an organisation to represent them – but that is all about to change following the formation of SiSA (Science in Sport Association).

Sports scientist Jon Goodman, who runs Think Fitness a sports performance company working with several Premier League and international players as well as a number of professional clubs, has been instrumental in getting SiSA off the ground. League Medic caught up with him to find out more.

Why is it so important that sport scientists working specifically in football have their own representative body?

Sports science is a relatively new area which has had a significant impact upon the coaching process at all professional clubs over the last 10 years. We now have a broad

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spectrum of people working under the sports science umbrella but thus far there has been no management of this community. All of these people have got academic qualifications but there are no relevant qualifications specific to the job we increasingly people are having to learn ‘on the job’.

They come into the job straight from university and we need to ensure there is an association for them to attach themselves to.

“Football is enormously insecure, particularly when you are lower down the payscale.”

In terms of clubs managing these people there is often no real job description because it is an evolving profession. More and more jobs and opportunities are becoming available and more and more people are falling straight out of university into jobs with no practical experience. We need a body offering training to these people to make sure they can deliver.

The FA doesn’t currently have a sports science team in place either so there is no one to go to for support and guidance, or to coordinate relevant research. Plus there is new technology breaking through all the time and we should be sharing that information.

Where are you at with it at the moment?

It’s definitely not the finished article. This is the first stop on the journey to bringing the right people together to get the right outcomes.

Thirty or 40 of us met up in May last year to talk it through and we decided to become a sub-group of LMedA because they can offer all of the protection elements and benefits.

It just seemed like a natural fit.

How are your fellow sports scientists reacting to SiSA? Generally there is a lot of goodwill among the guys but it also needs people who can drive this thing forward and take a bit of ownership of it. We are all incredibly busy when the season is on so we’re not in a position to question what is going on, but that is why this association is so vital. For example, if a new manager comes in, it can immediately put the support staff

Science in Sport Association

Editorials

at risk, you’re not sure what is going to happen. Football is enormously insecure, particularly when you are lower down the payscale. It’s a big financial burden to sack a manager but, when it comes to the strength and conditioning coach, he can often be sacked quite quickly with very little regard. We all accept what it’s like and we want to work in the industry but we need to make sure that good people don’t fall out of the industry for all the wrong reasons.

What’s the next step?

We need to catch our breath and see where we are and also see what the FA do next after Euro 2012. It’s a big responsibility but somehow we’ve got to all get together and clarify what we

want to achieve. Everyone will have a different opinion so we possibly will need to appoint a panel of two or three opinion leaders who have their finger on the pulse. SISA is the only body looking at it from a football perspective so, in that respect, we are truly unique. If we can coordinate it effectively then everyone is going to win.

How do I become a member?

Membership of LMedA will automatically register Sports Science practitioners with SiSA and in so doing will naturally create a database of science practitioners that will form the basis of the SiSA organisation.

Members will be immediately entitled to benefits of the associations. LMedA

is providing the initial impetus, administration and experience in order to help establish SiSA. You can register online www.lmeda.co.uk or telephone 0333 4567897 where staff will process your details in a matter of minutes.

Sports Scientist: Jon Goodman

On the Move Where are they now? Keep up to speed with your colleagues? latest career moves.

This issue, in our Arrivals and Departures Lounge are:

Nick Reid: Has parted company with Macclesfield town after 5 years. No plans as yet until after settlement is agreed with the recently relegated Club Paul Geaney; Macclesfield Town soft tissue therapist has also left the Club Nick Dawes; Bristol City's head Physio has parted with the Club during this closed season Sports scientist Alistair Lane has parted with Rotherham Utd.

Dave Buckby has moved on after 13 years at Huddersfield Town as has his assistant Adam Hirst who has spent 5 years at the Club Jon Dickens has left Doncaster Rovers after almost 29 years in the game as the strapped for cash Club make cut backs following relegation Mike McBride has left Coventry City.

The Scotland national team Physio has taken up a new post at Bristol City Peter Corder left Peterborough Utd earlier on this year

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General industry news

Editorials

Administration - Who’s next?

If the title of the article doesn’t send shivers down your spine then it should!!

Unfortunately the term does not refer to paperwork or office personnel but to the very real possibility that your club could go into administration with the consequent threat to your livelihood and career. How may clubs have reached this point over the years?

Leeds United, Aldershot, Plymouth and this year alone Portsmouth and the mighty Glasgow Rangers. And, as we go to press, Port Vale have become the latest club to be added to this inglorious list.

So what does it mean and what impact can this have on us, the medical team? told us. He continued: “As soon as administration was announced, I was in touch with LMedA. It is great to have somewhere to turn to for help, support and guidance. While no legal intervention can be made during the process at least I was able to get an idea of how things worked and where I stood on matters.”

Martin Price from LMedA lawyers, Russell Jones and Walker, explains: “Unfortunately administration is becoming increasingly commonplace Essentially, when a club is facing in professional football. The bankruptcy, a club should prudently protections available for non-playing seek the protection of administration employees are limited, there are with a view to continuing as a going however some things that can be concern whilst a purchaser of the club’s done to help members through this assets is secured so that it continues to difficult process. We can advise upon exist. Administration invariably means members’ legal position, so that redundancies and/or wage reductions they can understand and evaluate which is where medical staff are most the options placed before them by vulnerable, and most likely to be administrators. LMedA provide an affected. invaluable support network and can “The worse thing is the anticipation put members in touch with others of what will happen in the long term who have had similar experiences. The and not understanding the process crucial thing is for members to seek which is unfolding before us. There is advice at an early stage so that they can a real sense of helplessness and worry understand the process and their legal that comes with it” one member rights within it”.

“Unfortunately administration is becoming increasingly commonplace”

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Upon going into administration the owners of the club relinquish day-to-day control of the business to the administrators. Contracts of employment transfer to the club in administration.

The administrator will review all income and expenditure and inevitably look to reduce all areas of non“essential” expenditure, this usually has an effect upon employees. This effect could be redundancies or a request by the administrators to take a pay cut or a deferral of pay. In the event that an administrator opts for redundancies an employee’s entitlements are very limited and are paid out by the National Insurance fund: Up to six weeks’ holiday pay up to a maximum of £430 per week A week’s notice pay for every year of employment up to a maximum of £430 per week (regardless of what your contract says) A statutory redundancy payment In the event that administrators opt for reductions in salary or wage deferrals, whether such proposals work for you depends upon the chances of a new purchaser being found who will

General industry news

honour the arrears of pay, you may form the view that it is better to hang on or if you have an alternative role to go to to move on.

Unfortunately, as members of staff any arrears of salary owed to you won’t be “football debts” and therefore there is no obligation for those arrears to be paid in full before the club exits administration.

An administrator normally acts quickly, not only because he wants to stabilise the club’s day to day expenditure, but also because if he retains employees beyond a fourteen day period he would be deemed to have adopted the contract and that therefore any claim for arrears of salary would rank in priority to the administrator’s professional fees, a situation an administrator would be reluctant to allow.

So all in all this is a very bleak picture for members to face. And of course the message is that if clubs like Rangers and Portsmouth can go under then surely any club can.

Finally, the priority is to keep the players playing and the spectators attending. The players cannot survive without a medical team to support them and in that respect some positions will remain safe. But of course it wasnt that long ago that even big clubs had only one physio to do everything! A sobering thought.

Title

Title

Venue

Venue

Date

Date

by J P, LMedA Member

by Penny Barker

This conference held at the Hawthornes was organised by Dr Mark Gillett in conjunction with HE seminars.

The location is pretty much ideal for those travelling from either the North West or the South as the ground is literally a minute from the M5. Easy to find, ample free parking, warm comfortable surroundings precluded what was to be a very wellorganised event.

Speakers were gathered from a variety of backgrounds and included Geoff McGrath from Formula 1, Dr McCurdie from the British Olympic Association and Nick Broad, who is known to many of us through his work in football. Generally the speakers were excellent and the variety meant we were able to get an insight into how other sports apply management procedures and protocols.

Lunch was excellently catered as was the tea and coffee beaks, which were held adjacent to the trade stands.

This is important if we are to continue to get support from companies and delegates were encouraged to visit the stands and learn of their products.

Overall an excellent conference with high calibre presentations. Very well organised and executed and certainly worth considering next year’s event.

As an undergraduate studying Sport Psychology, the Science and Football Conference was a brilliant opportunity to meet and listen to those who were at the top of their game in specified fields.

Throughout the day there were various lectures which we were able to attend ranging from expertise in sports science, medicine and psychology.

The lecturers for these areas had much recognition as they had worked with the very elite athletes and teams in the game. The lectures not only gave advice as to how and where to start if making a difference in football was our ambition but to also enlighten us of their own experiences throughout their career. The ability to attend any lecture and choose on the day was novel and a great idea The venue was more than adequate with easy parking and great location by the Thames. Well-organised and easy to follow there is no question this second conference was well attended though the majority of delegates were students. The trade stand area was conveniently located next to the dining area but the only opportunity to discuss their products was at lunchtime such was the scheduling.

Overall, the conference was a brilliant experience for me personally and I would definitely consider attending future events.

Maximising Multi- Disciplinary Team Performance West Bromwich Albion FC March 6th/7th 2012

Editorials

Conference Review Science and Football Conference University East London March 18th 2012

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On the couch with... John Dickens

Editorials

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Day in a life of... Nick Worth

Editorials

LMedAbroad Life in Abu Dhabi was Worth a shot for physio Nick.

Nick Worth was at the top of his game in English football physiotherapy when he decided to take on a new challenge.

The former head of sports medicine at Bolton Wanderers,

whose impressive career also includes first team physio at Fulham FC, Man City, West Brom and England under 21s physio, upped sticks and moved his family to Abu Dhabi, where he now works as the medical services director at Al Jazira FC. Here, Nick gives an insight into life in the Middle East …

Reading online about the snow causing chaos back in the UK makes me appreciate where I am and my decision to come out to Abu Dhabi to work. Watching the Premier League games on the television with the snow swirling around when it’s sunny outside feels a little odd, but it’s a great change from sitting on the touchline unable to feel my toes with the cold!

I came out to Abu Dhabi in

November 2010 and have enjoyed the challenges that working in a very different environment brings.

My job here involves running the medical department across a range of sports, but my main focus is the football team. Al Jazira Sports and

“In the Middle East, children are not brought up playing football.”

Culture club runs teams for football, volleyball, handball, basketball and swimming. All of the sports have professional and academy teams. A large part of my job involves raising the standard of medical care across the board. From arranging adequate

first aid care for the players and crowd to bringing the training of the physiotherapy staff up to Premier League standards, a lot has needed to be initiated. Prioritising these requirements with limited budgetary constraints has been a challenge.

Culturally, the Islamic religion dictates the pattern of the day for the players. They have regular prayer times which are adhered to five times daily. This is an impressive sight when the whole squad take part in prayers during half-time. The manager will only have a couple of minutes to get his comments across before the squad prepare for prayers.

Then the players wash their feet (ablutions), cover their legs with a towel and pray towards Mecca. As part of this ritual, they flex their knees and plantar flex their ankles to an extreme. Prayer times also come

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Day in a life of... Nick Worth

Editorials

into consideration when planning training times as we have to respect that there is a limited window of time to pray following the call to prayer.

Last season, the club won the league and cup double for the first time in its history. Part of this success was down to the medical team maintaining the first choice players, ensuring their availability for selection. A lot of the ideas which we started would seem commonplace in the Premier League, but simple prehabilitation work, recovery shakes alongside improvements in the rehabilitation of players, made a åmeasurable difference compared to previous seasons.

The level of professionalism within the playing staff varies wildly. The squad can only include four nonUAE based players. The ‘foreigners’ generally have a better approach to modern training techniques through their experiences in other leagues than the local players. The league here is still relatively in its infancy, but due to the finances available and the fact that the population of the UAE is football mad, high profile names are attracted to the area. At Al Jazira we have Lucas Neill (Australia captain, West Ham, Everton, Blackburn Rovers, Millwall) and Ricardo Oliveira (AC Milan, Valencia, Real Betis) as our high

profile players. Others in the league are Asamoah Gyan and Luca Toni.

In the Middle East, children are not brought up playing football. It is often the case that boys do not start kicking a ball around until the age of 7 or 8. This obviously means that the familiarity of being comfortable with a ball takes a lot of hard work in a shorter time. In order to be able to compete at an elite level, the UAE national players require a lot of coaching. Simple movement patterns are not the same as for players in the UK as the activities of daily living throughout their childhood into adult life are vastly different. Recently, the fitness coach undertook a series of functional movement screening assessments. It highlighted deficiencies in joint ranges of movement. When we analysed the results, we discovered that the players had never been put through any exercises such as pressups or shoulder mobility routines.

The ‘normal’ results for the functional movement screening assessments needed to be adjusted for the UAE population. Teaching 20-year-old professional football players to do simple shoulder mobility exercises would seem very basic, but it is part of the preventative type work that is needed to educate athletes in the UAE. Core stability exercises need to

England daze: Nick doesn’t miss the days of standing on cold English touchlines.

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start from square one! There has been a trend toward ‘beach weights’ with little thought about the requirements of professional football functionally.

Basic comprehension of good nutrition and hydration that is taught in primary schools in the UK, does not get taught in the UAE routinely.

This means that when players develop into the professional squads, they do not have any understanding of what is required in an athlete’s diet.

Players here tend to eat what they enjoy eating, rather than deciding what is the most beneficial for them to perform at a high level. Traditionally, fried food is a staple part of the UAE diet. This is accompanied by a high sugar intake and few vitamins on

“Demonstrating that you are open to trying to learn Arabic is appreciated by the players.” a regular basis. Diabetes and heart disease are both prevalent in the Middle East population. I believe that it will take an extremely long time to change these views. At Al Jazira, we try to advise players about what constitutes an athletic diet and when to eat which food type. I am doubtful how much real impact we can have on the players’ eating habits. This is a part of the challenge involved with working here and it is interesting trying to identify local food which can be incorporated into the athletic diet.

Forcing a ‘westernised’ pasta and rice type diet on the players would be met with resistance, so modifying the local diet with modern performance food choices appears to be the way forward.

ACL injuries are commonplace.

There is approximately five times the incidence of ACL injuries to

Day in a life of... Nick Worth

Editorials

players of the UAE. There are several theories regarding this. Due to the extreme knee flexion required for prayer five times a day, the ACL can be lax due to the regular stretching.

Anatomic anomalies suggested are an increased posterior tibial angle and an increased trochlear angle on the femur. Also poor muscle strength and nutrition can be contributing factors. It means that the knee surgeons are very experienced in ACL reconstructions and that you get a lot of experience in ACL rehabilitation.

Luckily for me, most of the players speak English. The other physio staff are often on hand to translate for me when we are discussing injuries. I have learnt a few basic Arabic words but need to try harder to learn the language. Demonstrating that you are open to trying to learn Arabic is appreciated by the players. I have been made to feel very welcome by everyone I have met. The support from the club and players makes you feel that you are able to make a positive difference and that your efforts are recognised.

My family are enjoying life in Abu Dhabi. My children go to a really great school and think that it’s fantastic to have swimming lessons in the outdoor pool. Being able to play outside all year round is a real plus.

It gets extremely hot in the summer months – up to 55°C can be draining – but everywhere has air conditioning.

There are a large number of attractions to keep the family busy during any spare time – but of course, there’s always the beach! I am really enjoying the different challenges that working in Abu Dhabi brings and the unique learning environment for me and my family. I am currently working on the development of a mental toughness programme within sport and still participate as an online tutor for Bath University’s MSc in Sports Physiotherapy. This keeps me in touch with things in the UK as I have no set timescale for staying here. I hope that I can be here for a couple of years – but with professional football, you never know what’s round the corner!

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18

Working in partnership with LMedA

Editorials

Working in Partnership

with LMedA

As you can see from this exciting new magazine, LMedA has made enormous progress in just one year and is now firmly established as a credible voice for all medical, science and exercise personnel working in professional football.

From physiotherapists to masseurs, sports therapists to sports scientists, doctors to dentists, osteopaths to opticians and more, the numbers continue to grow by the day.

So, if you are looking to develop your profile and showcase your company to medical and fitness experts in the professional football world, what better place to start than working in partnership with LMedA. As an organisation we are keen to work with companies and individuals who understand our ethos and what we are trying to achieve. We also want to work with companies that can provide relevant products and

services of value to our members.

We have a variety of different partnership levels to suit your individual needs and budget. So, if you are serious about developing your business in professional football call the Charles Whitney team on Tel: 0845 004 1040 today to discuss things in more detail.

Plus

Look out in our next edition for Product News featuring what’s new in the market place.

In the NEXT ISSUE Autumn “2012” PROFILE ON FOOTBALL’S LONGEST SERVING MEDIC Who is it?

CONTRACTS LMedA issue recommended guidelines CLINICAL SUPPORT GROUP ESTABLISHED SPORTS SCIENCE FOCUS Glasgow Rangers

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HE Seminars

Courses

20

FA basic first aid

Mr. Be Activated

For details and to book your place visit:

DOUGLAS HEEL Be Activated for Therapists and Trainers with Douglas Heel (Level 1) 2 Day Courses

Master a powerful series of hands on techniques that can bring instant improvements in movement, reductions in pain and improved function for your patients.

100% MONEY BACK GUARANTEE.

MONE

TEE

MONE

TEE

CK GUARAN Y BA

If you find no value in this course, we will give you your money back!

Courses

Want to double hamstring length in 2 minutes? www.physiouk.co.uk/douglas1 WHEN? 21st - 22nd April 2012 28th - 29th April 2012 10th - 11th Nov 2012

WHERE? Bradford London London

TIME? 8.30am - 5.00pm 8.30am - 5.00pm 8.30am - 5.00pm

Previous participant feedback: "Opened my eyes to a new way to assess and treat patients" "Truly inspiring, made me re-think my entire outlook on my work ethic and also outlook on life"

CK GUARAN Y BA

For full details and to book a place visit www.physiouk.co.uk or call 0208 394 0400 COURSE

PLACE

DATE

TUTOR

Manchester

15th April

Paul Hodges

Paul Hodges: Core Stability, Exercise and Motor Control - 1 Day Course

London

21st April

Paul Hodges

Be Activated for Therapists and Trainers (Level 1)

Bradford

21st-22nd April

Douglas Heel

Be Activated for Therapists and Trainers (Level 2)

Surrey

23rd-24th April

Douglas Heel

Be Activated for Therapists and Trainers (Level 1)

London

28th-29th April

Douglas Heel

Pathology Workshop for Manual Therapists - Evening Lecture

Dartford

23rd May

John Mitchell

Sports Acupuncture

Solihull

26th-27th May

Kevin Young

Introduction to Myofascial Release (Part 1) with John Annan

Surrey

16th-17th June

John Annan

Introduction to Myofascial Release (Part 1) with John Annan

Scotland

23rd-24th June

John Annan

Thoracic Outlet Syndrome

Dartford

14th July

Teri Bayford

Milton Keynes

18th July

John Mitchell

Thoracic Outlet Syndrome

Stockport

4th August

Teri Bayford

Ed Wilson's Trigger Point Course

Farnham

8th-9th September

Ed Wilson

Introduction to Myofascial Release (Part 1) with John Annan

London

20th-21st October

John Annan

Functional Fascial Taping - 2 Day Course

Surrey

27th-28th October

Ron Alexander

Functional Fascial Taping - 2 Day Course

Stockport

3rd-4th November

Ron Alexander

Be Activated for Therapists and Trainers (Level 1)

London

10th-11th November

Douglas Heel

Tendinopathy: Forget the recipes - 1 Day Course

Harrogate

10th November

Peter Malliaras

Tendinopathy: Forget the recipes - 1 Day Course

Stockport

11th November

Peter Malliaras

Paul Hodges: Core Stability, Exercise and Motor Control - 1 Day Course

Pathology Workshop for Manual Therapists - Evening Lecture

This course listing is not exhaustive. Please check the website for further dates & course listings. New events are announced through the year and courses are held at other venues.

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Wellbeing

Courses 2012

COURSE

Wednesday 4th July

Thursday 5th July

THE SHOULDER: STEPS TO SUCCESS - PART 1

Tutor: Jo Gibson MCSP - Clinical Physiotherapy Specialist THE SHOULDER: STEPS TO SUCCESS - PART 1 Tutor: Jo Gibson MCSP - Clinical Physiotherapy Specialist PROBLEM SOLVING THE SHOULDER

th

th

14 & 15 July

14th July Saturday 21stJuly 18th & 19th August

8th September

8th & 9th September

th

Fri 14 September

15th September 15th September Part 1 Fri 21st - Sun 23rd September ------------------Part 2 Fri 26th - Sun 28th October 22nd & 23rd September th

Weds 26 September

29th September

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Tutor: Angu Jaggi MSc MCSP

Clinical Physiotherapy Specialist, Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital Trust (UK)

THE SACROILIAC JOINT SIMPLIFIED (SIJ)

Tutor: Alison Middleditch MCSP, MMACP

SPECIFIC SOFT TISSUE MOBILISATION (SSTM)

Tutor: Mr Glenn Hunter

PROBLEM SOLVING THE SHOULDER

Tutor: Angu Jaggi MSc MCSP

Clinical Physiotherapy Specialist, Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital Trust (UK) UNDERSTANDING SHOULDER INSTABILITY

Tutor: Angu Jaggi MSc MCSP

Clinical Physiotherapy Specialist, Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital Trust (UK) A MANUAL THERAPY & MOBILISTION TOOLBOX FOR THE HIP & KNEE

Tutor: Professor Graham N Smith GradDipPhysFCSPDipTPCertED

ANKLE LIGAMENT DISRUPTION A CLINICAL & FUNCTIONAL DILEMMA – 2-HOUR EVENING WORKSHOP WITH INTERACTIVE SESSIONS

Tutor: Professor Graham N Smith GradDipPhysFCSPDipTPCertED

VENUE Prestons PT Clinic Peterborough Bristol Rugby Club Yeovil District Hospital

University of Worcester Bedford Hospital St Thomas’ Hosp London Blandford Community Hosp Dorset Bury Physiotherapy Clinic Bury St Edmonds Bury Physiotherapy Clinic Bury St Edmonds

SPECIFIC SOFT TISSUE MOBILISATION

Neath Port Talbot Hospital

Tutor: Glenn Hunter MSc, MCSP, SRP, Cert ED FE FOUNDATION ACUPUNCTURE COURSE A six-day workshop

Tutor: Mr Kam-Wah Mak BSc, Dip Ac, Cert. Ed., MCSP Chartered Physiotherapist, Advanced Member and Approved Trainer of Acupuncture Association of Chartered Physiotherapists (AACP) THE MULLIGAN CONCEPT

Tutor: Robin Blake MCSP DipTP

THE SHOULDER: STEPS TO SUCCESS Part II (Advanced) Afternoon/Evening workshop (Attendance at Part I is a pre-requisite)

Tutor: Jo Gibson MCSP - Clinical Physiotherapy Specialist SPECIFIC SOFT TISSUE MOBILISATION

Tutor: Glenn Hunter MSc, MCSP, SRP, Cert ED FE

14th & Ju

University Hospital Coventry

THE KNEE EXPLAINED

Tutor: Professor Graham N Smith GradDipPhysFCSPDipTPCertED

Thursday

Craigavon Area Hospital Belfast

University of Huddersfield Leicester Tigers Rugby Club Bedford Hospital North Wing

Part 1 Fri 21st - Sun 2 ______________ Part 2 Fri 26th - Sun

Acupunture in sport

Features

Acupuncture in Football Bernard Nolan provides an insight into how this ancient form of alternative medicine is helping professional footballers to recover more quickly

Even though the sound of acupuncture in football sounds not too out of place these days, believe me in 1988 when I taught my first class to a group of two physios, it seemed really out of place.

However luckily one of those two was a man named John Sheriden, the then Spurs physio, who got headlines in some papers for helping Gazza with a foot injury by using my methods - even if he did refer to me as “some bloke up north who taught me acupuncture”!

Since then I have taught many more courses around the country, as well as conducting in-house ones at some of the bigger clubs.

The best thing about teaching is the feedback you get from the medical professionals who use acupuncture as an adjunct to their own therapy.

Since I moved down to London (not my idea!), I have been invited to work at a number of clubs as their inhouse acupuncturist, one sometimes two days a week. I worked at Chelsea for a few months, Watford for a couple of years, Fulham for three years, and I’m now at Brentford. At first I was a bit in awe (even at my age) of pro footballers. This lasted about a week.

You soon realise that they are just normal people, with in some cases a rude amount of money. Nonetheless, I was fortunate to be in a great situation to ply my trade in the sport I love.

However reality bit once again.

I soon realised that in any one day each player would have four or five treatments, and acupuncture was only one of them. So, my problem was thinking ‘where does my treatment come in in the grand scheme of things?’ When a player recovered there was no real way of deducting how much of that recovery was down to my treatment. So the lesson I learned was that I had to adapt and become a team player. In private practice

you are the only one who gives the treatment, you know when you do well and you know when you don’t.

It is important to understand that, when you give a treatment, the following few days you expect the patient to go through a healing process, so sometimes it gets worse before it gets better. In sport and especially football they just have to get better ASAP. So, in which situations or conditions does acupuncture excel in pro football? Mainly in the treatment of pain and the treatment of

soft tissue injuries, such as muscle tears, tweaks, ligament conditions, tendonopathies etc. In the last few years I have brought in the use of distal points for the treatment of conditions at the other end of the body, for example, a point on the Tibialis anterior for shoulders, a point at the back of the ankle for the neck, and a great point on the foot for aductors and groins. These points are great as the player is usually quite impressed that a point so far away from the site of injury has such a profound effect.

Because I studied in the Far East, I use traditional acupuncture, and not dry needling. By traditional I mean I always work with meridians (lines of energy) and not western methods.

So, why should you, as a medical professional, study acupuncture?

Firstly because it is a great tool to work along side your own therapy, and, secondly, because you have a much better chance of getting a job within football if you have it on your CV. As with all injuries it is important to use every modality available in order to speed up recovery and, clearly, acupuncture is one of them. There are no detrimental effects and, in some cases, players can apply treatments themselves. Participation results in better outcomes as we all know and my experience tells me players are impressed with our contribution to their recovery.

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