Football Injuries

There are many injuries that can be sustained whilst playing football, be it at a professional or amateur level.

These can either be from trauma or overuse. The injuries can vary in location and are not just isolated to the legs. In addition to the varied location of injury, they can also vary in severity. These variables have an impact on the time it takes to return to full function following the injury.

The injuries in football can literally occur anywhere in your body from your head, such as concussion, all the way down to your feet, such as a metatarsal fracture, and anywhere in between. Lower limb conditions account for 71-81% of all injuries in those that play football.

The most common injury sustained in football is a hamstring injury. Other injuries that occur in those that play football are:

Muscle tears of the quadriceps, adductors and calfs.
Tendon pain
Ligament injuries of the knee which include the Medial Collateral Ligament (MCL), Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL), Lateral Collateral Ligament (LCL) and Posterior Cruciate Ligament (PCL).
Ligament injuries of the ankle which include the lateral ankle ligaments (those on the outer aspect of your ankle) and the medial ankle ligaments (those on the inner aspect of your ankle).
Meniscus tear in the knee.
Articular cartilage injuries to the ankles, knees and hips.
Groin pain can come from various sources, this can be adductors, iliopsoas, inguinal or pubic related.

Your expert Physiotherapist will advise which is the most appropriate for your condition.

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Useful Information

At each location of injury there are different pathologies that can occur. These will be dependent on the mechanism of injury. If the mechanism was from a traumatic incident, such as contact from an opposing player, at the thigh it may result in a contusion whereas at the knee or ankle it may result in a ligament tear or rupture. In contrast, non-contact injuries are a result of overload or overuse. This is when the tolerance of the muscle or tendon is exceeded, through either intensity, frequency, or a combination of both. If this is the case, you may sustain a muscle tear, or your tendon may become irritated and enter a reactive state.

There are various treatment options available which your Physiotherapist will discuss with you in your initial consultation. These will include:

Tecar Therapy
Vibra 3.0
Cryoultrasound
Shockwave
Cupping
Massage
Pilates
Exercise prescription

If the pain is not improving, see a physiotherapist to get a diagnosis and reduce pain quickly.

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Football Injury & Lower Limb Specialist

Luigi Cerullo

PHYSIOTHERAPIST
BSc, MCSP, MHCPC

READ INFORMATION

Luigi is an experienced Chartered Physiotherapist, with a vast history of working with elite athletes and weekend warriors. In addition, he has a BSc in Sports Science from Brunel University. Luigi is competent in managing all musculoskeletal injuries, but his speciality is the management of lower limb injuries. Luigi has a keen interest in football and has significant experience working with adult and paediatric athletes, both male and female, spanning from The English Football League Championship, The FA Women’s Championship to the National League. However, Luigi has a proven track record of treating all patients with excellent results. Luigi applies a holistic approach to each of his clients, ensuring they are educated on their injury implementing the most appropriate evidence based treatment plan to achieve the patients set goals.

Languages: English, Italian

TESTIMONIALS

Since seeing Louise (following an Achilles rupture repair), I have:

- Made it back onto tennis / squash courts to (tentatively!) celebrate 1 year anniversary of my surgery
- Ran my fastest 10k at 43.57!
- Ran 5k in 21:30 (vs pre-surgery PB of 20:18)
- I increased my single leg calf lift to 59 kg (vs ~18 kg initially a few months ago)
- I had a final appt with my consultant, who discharged me while congratulating me on a wonderful recovery

All the above is to illustrate that I'm absolutely delighted with the progress I have made since last summer when I couldn't do anything and the outlook seemed bleak. I'll be forever grateful for Louise’s guidance and support as I've navigated the long road back from my injury, and I appreciate the continued advice to help me prepare for more dynamic activity. Louise has been really fantastic and I couldn't have asked for better care.

Recovering from a full Achilles rupture. Started my work with Nina in feb and my progress has only been positive and upwards and I am almost at full speed again. Nina put me back together again almost from scratch. She is the best physio I have ever worked with and will again. Very knowledgable and very hard working. Can’t recommend enough.

Bojan

What a great find! My orthopaedic surgeon recommended them and I can't rate Luigi, Gloria and the team more highly. Excellent service and very effective treatment- recovering nicely!

Justine

I am 84 years old, and have always been fit and healthy and exercised regularly. 3 years ago I underwent emergency surgery for peritonitis, and had a colonoscopy bag for 6 months and straight after surgery to reversal of the stoma. After this surgery I felt my legs very weak. To complete my drama, during the last summer I developed an abdominal hernia and had surgery for hernia repair. This made me even weaker specially at my legs. I have recovered but felt weak. I started my sessions at ALO Physiotherapy at the beginning of January, with the Vibra Machine combined with specific exercises. I have now recovered my body strength, particularly in the legs. I am now walking normally and without pain. I am delighted!

Barbara

Great clinic with great people! I was so lucky to find this clinic and even more when I met Andre. He's a very talented therapist and a wonderful person who makes you feel comfortable every time. He helped me to resolve my back problems in few appointments and I will be always grateful to him! From my experience is the best clinic in London and I highly recommend them without any doubts!

Daniele

One of the best physiotherapy centres in the world! The professionalism and knowledge of this centre amazed me.

Pierre

I am so glad I found this clinic. Luigi has been amazing. After my 1st session I felt an improvement and now have ALOT more movement and significant reduction in pain. I couldn’t recommend this clinic & Luigi enough. So helpful and flexible whenever I have needed to amend appointments. Every one is fantastic. I will continue to come here for as long as I need.

Mital

Andre is the best physiotherapist I came across. As a dedicated martial arts practitioner, I regularly use his services. He has always managed to fix my various back and leg injuries. I would recommend Alo Physiotherapy to anyone who suffers from body pain.

Thomas

Where do I begin? The journey has been too long with Andre Oliveira and ALO Clinic , as he helped me both physically and mentally to overcome an injury I had in both of my knees. A small injury , after following wrong treatment became chronic and I found myself unable to walk/stand/run and do the simplest things- the mental impact was worse. I was introduced to Andre by Eleftherios Pavlidis who runs Laertion in Athens. lefteris with his team were the first to accommodate the problem and told me what I need to do. As a Londoner, I was introduced to Andre and ALO Clinic, and the rest is history. Since February 2017 when I had the first session with Andre and he identified the biomechanic nature of the problem, along with the use of Tecar the results were visible after one month. Since then, along with personal effort and strengthening I did always guided by Andre, I the problem is restored and the pain is gone. I highly recommend ALO Physiotherapy Clinic , and Andre Oliveira for anyone who suffers from sport injuries , amateurs or professional top athletes.

Constantinos

Very professional staff and friendly environment. I felt a lot better after very first session. Appointment are easily available. I would definitely recommend this place

Muhammad

The care I received from ALO Physiotherapy was outstanding from the first session to the last. Sessions with Louise were informative as well as practical, allowing me to understand the context/logic behind treatment as well as tips to prevent future injuries. Louise was always readily available to answer my questions and the treatment process was collaborative rather than being prescriptive. Beyond the expertise of the team the quality of the equipment and facilities was incredibly high and aided my recovery significantly. I would recommend ALO Physiotherapy to anyone who requires physiotherapy treatment in the Marylebone area.

ALO is an excellent well-run clinic and Louise Hynes who looked after me is a superb physiotherapist. Louise is knowledgeable, skilled and very efficient at her job. My sore shoulder was sorted out in no time thanks to her. Thank you, Louise, and thank you ALO.

Julian Webber, Harley Street Endodontist.

ALO is an excellent well-run clinic and Louise Hynes who looked after me is a superb physiotherapist. Louise is knowledgeable, skilled and very efficient at her job. My sore shoulder was sorted out in no time thanks to her. Thank you, Louise, and thank you ALO.

Julian Webber, Harley Street Endodontist.

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