As many of you will have read over the past couple of days Rory Mcilroy had to withdraw from this week’s Abu Dhabi Golf Championship in the middle east after it was confirmed by MRI that he suffered a stress fracture of one of his ribs.
What is Stress Fracture?
A stress fracture is a small crack in the bone usually caused by overloading and by an increase in activity. They are normally seen in the weight bearing joints of the body including the foot, shin, thigh and hip.
Rory had been doing increased testing with his golf equipment in the off season due to Nike taking themselves out of the golf equipment market. This meant that Rory Mcilroy hit a lot more balls than his standard practice and this is the likely cause of the rib stress fracture as he didn’t have a fall or trauma.
What is the recovery time?
The most likely recovery time for a stress fracture is about 6 weeks which allows the bone to heal. The patient or athlete is usually prescribed full rest to allow the bone to heal. It will be very difficult to hit any balls during the 6 weeks as all golf shots will put load through the rib cage except putting.
Reducing the Pain?
Laser Therapy, Active Release Techniques (ART®) and Kinesiotaping can all help to reduce the pain levels during the recovery process. Load management is key to preventing a reoccurrence of a rib stress fracture.
Your GP will also be able to prescribe painkillers and anti-inflammatories, these will also help with pain reduction.
More about Golf Chiro
Shane is one of Europe’s leading Golf Performance Therapists having worked with over 40 different professional golfers on both the European & PGA Tours over the past 8 years. If your golf club is interested in having Shane do a presentation or talk on Golf Injuries & Injury Prevention or Performance & Fitness. Contact the clinic on 0578678904 or email info@lawlorclinic.ie
If you are suffering from any golf related injuries and would like to book an appointment please contact us today
Yours in Health
The Lawlor Clinic: Portlaoise
Experts in the Assessment, Treatment & Rehab of Golf Injuries
