Tis the Rugby season and the game is increasing its heat. It’s nice to see the (high tempo) competition as well as professional support towards the sport which includes foreign coaches, fitness experts, and even reputed sponsors.
In my teens I was a 1st XV player at the Bedford School, Bedfordshire, England as well as a 1st XV player at the Glasgow University as a ‘Full Back’. Obviously the sports culture in the UK and the standard of Rugby is very high. Here in Sri Lanka the commitment, motivation and the effort level is very good. I believe as ex-players who know the medical field and sports science theories, we need to pitch in. Many times I was involved in the Rugby set up here in Sri Lanka doing lectures, fitness workshops as well as acting as a motivational specialist.
Well let’s talk simple and easy to understand fitness science. Following tips will help Rugby players as well as other sports specialists to gain some fitness knowledge. These tips will cut down Injuries, Energy wastage as well as huge medical and supplement bills etc.
Rugby Training Kit
Boys -> during your practice sessions and training time, make sure (all of you) players wear cotton easy to wear white/cream coloured clothing. Also have the correct protective foot wear, underpants and proper clean socks. I know you have your school coloured Jerseys and kits which in most cases is very dark in colour. Leave that for the match. But during your training sessions you should not absorb heat/sun light. This will give you lots of heat stroke issues as well as losing much needed muscle mass. So wear a simple, cotton, sun reflective colour like white or cream. Just wearing the right gear will cut down heat absorption by 30%. Also time to try out plenty of head gear, wrist gear, bandages, new sports underpants and socks during your training. And don’t forget to try out your new boots during the practices! Don’t keep it till the last moment or the day of the match to wear it. Practice is everything, including your kit.
ICE therapy
I – Ice
C – Compression
E – Elevation
These are the basic first aid principles of acute soft tissue injury. Rugby coaching staff as well as top players must always carry an ice bag or at least have an ice pack readily available in the home refrigerator during your rest days. I know of some schools that try out ‘Ice Baths’ after the training as well as after the match. Your major muscle group as well as the skeletal structure needs to cool down effectively as well as act as a therapy to cool your body down in order to recover from various mini injuries, swells, bruisers, pain etc. Sports medicine experts like us believe that melting ice water and applying through a wet towel or sponge repeatedly for a period of minimum 10 minutes is most effective. Ice application helps to reduce injured muscle temperature without compromising the skin and allows the superficial skin temperature to return to normal while internally the muscle temperature remains low. Reflex activity and motor functions are impaired following ice treatment so players may be more susceptible to injury for upto 30 minutes following treatment.
Also boys, ICE must be applied all the time giving up to 4 hour rest in between, during your first 48hours of an injury. Do not wait for weeks and months to do an ICE treatment. It is absolutely pointless. You might as well EAT an ice lolly!
Rugby Concussion
Anyway, let’s talk about something more serious – like Concussion. During my 6 year professional sports career, I had 2-3 concussions incidents. Funnily they were all due to rugby incidents.
A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury that is caused by a blow to the head or body, a fall, or collision or another injury that jabs or shuts the brain inside the skull. Although there maybe cuts or bruises on the head or face, there may be NO other visible signs of a brain injury. You don’t have to pass out (lose consciousness) to have this complication. Some people will have obvious symptoms as passing out or forgetting what happened for a few minutes or even a few hours before the injury. Something like a blackout.
With REST most people fully recover from a concussion. While some people recover within few hours, other people take a few weeks to recover… Mind you, I know lots of cases in the UK professional sports set up that resulted in fatal deaths as well as long term side effects. I know a player from the Welsh League who played in year 2009 who has still not recovered. He is paralyzed and is confined to a wheel chair.
Every year during the top division rugby and school rugby seasons, we get around 30 – 40 cases with concussions. Sad to say that most fitness experts or coaches have messed up when dealing with such cases.
What causes a concussion?
Your brain is a soft organ that is surrounded by spinal fluid and protected by your hard skull. Normally, the fluid around your brain acts like a cushion that keeps your brain from banging into your skull. But if your head or your body is hit hard, your brain can crash into your skull and be injured.
My opinion and my experience
Rest is the first plan. Don’t play the match immediately but have a rest. See if you can first talk (3 to 4 sentences), remember things (i.e. your warm up session, team talk, first 5 min of the match, etc. You may seem to be physically fit, but maybe mentally not so. Over sweating, shaking of the head, blurry eyes or sight, headaches are some vital symptoms. Most importantly if there is a head injury, do not remove the head gear, loosen up tight clothing shoes, etc., and take the player immediately to the hospital and consult a qualified doctor. Take him away from the game, may be to the side where he cannot see the game (that is to prevent him lying about his current condition so that he could play and finish the match).
Don’t wait till the match is over or an ambulance arrives If there is no physio or medically qualified personnel around, DON’T listen to the ‘quack’ experts. They will tell you to have an energy drink or give Jeewani, maybe give you a light bit of a head massage or even ask you to wash your head.
According to the American Sports Education Programme and Physical Education Programme in UK, the evaluation process for concussion is as follows;
Orientation – Ability to recall the day of the week, date, month, year and the time of the day within one hour
Immediate memory – ability to immediately recall five words
Concentration – Ability to recall in reverse order, increasing longer series of numbers and then the months
Delayed recall – Ability to recall the original five words given to the player in the immediate memory test (eg words: situps, pushups, position of the rugby field, school names and top rugby players)
Finally a first aid tip
– Protect the player from further harm
– Remove from activity
– Assign someone to monitor the player at all times even if the player feels better
– Continuously monitor for symptoms and signs of severe injury, if such occur, send for emergency medical assistance
If symptoms and signs don’t subside within 1 hour, NOTIFY THE PARENTS too.
Wish you all a very safe rugby season 2015!
