Jan 29, 2015Strong Spines
“The presentation got off the ground because one of my frustrations as an athletic trainer is that sports medicine teams often have these separate administrative chains and function independently,” says Colston, “But we’re supposed to work together in the best interest of athletes.
“A number of years ago at UTC, we started using a series of joint-specific surveys during our preseason physicals,” she continues. “My colleagues and I have been working with data analysis and predictive modeling to help us identify athletes who may possess an elevated risk of injury and then we relay that information to the clinical staff. We’ve had tremendous success with it so we’ve been working together, trying to perfect this model.”
Along with discussing the benefits of using a collaborative approach, Colston will discuss other elements that have helped her team see a reduction in back injuries. “The presentation will spend some time on anatomy of the lumbar spine,” she says. “I know we talk about anatomy over and over again, but we’re going to go over new information that you won’t get from a standard textbook or class.
“The other thing I want to talk about is the importance of capitalizing on your resources,” Colston continues. “We have to remember that we shouldn’t be working in silos and we need to look around us to see what we have available. This presentation will show how very simple screening methods can give you very valuable information to reduce back injuries among your athletes.”
