Back pain, tendonitis and bursitis
Broadly speaking, most injuries can be classified as either acute or chronic. Meaning that some injuries appear quickly and settle down relatively soon (acute), while others appear gradually and linger for a long time (chronic).
Some structures are more prone to chronic injury than others. Tendons and bursae are particularly prone because they have limited blood supply but also undergo a lot of repetitive stress during activity. Lower back pain has also been found to be prevalent among BJJ practitioners, particularly among elite ones.
So how do we manage chronic conditions?
Diagnosis
⦁ First, we need to ensure that we understand what we are dealing with. Getting a qualified Physiotherapist to assess your injury is the first step.
⦁ It can be a great advantage if the Physiotherapist is familiar with BJJ, because they will then understand the positions and forces that your body is contending with.
Pacing
⦁ It can be tempting to try to push through the pain to work your way out of the injury. No pain, no gain, right? Well, yes and no.
⦁ Chronically painful structures generally require some amount of purposeful training and activity, but they also need a bit of rest and offloading. Our Physiotherapists can help you find that happy balance between strengthening with activity and recovering with relative rest.
Education
⦁ Being informed about what’s going on is the most essential part of management, as it tells you what type of training and how much rest is most beneficial.
⦁ A Physiotherapist who understands BJJ can also guide you on what techniques and positions may be particularly aggravating, and which ones to use instead during your recovery.
Appropriate loading
⦁ Chronically painful structures often lack the strength to tolerate the loads to which they are exposed. This means that to recover and reduce the risk of the condition returning properly, we need to build durability by hard training, but we also need to allow for relative rest.
⦁ Again, having a Physiotherapist familiar with BJJ can be an advantage, because they understand which exercises prepare you for the specific demands of the sport.
In our clinic, we have both a Physiotherapist and a Trainer with BJJ experience. In the early stages, Siggi the Physiotherapist can help guide you on your recovery using the strategies discussed above. Then, once you’re back to baseline, Ricky the trainer can help take your strength and fitness to higher levels, reducing the risk of the issue returning.
References
Pavlova, A. V., Shim, J. S. C., Moss, R., Maclean, C., Brandie, D., Mitchell, L., Greig, L., Parkinson, E., Alexander, L., Tzortziou Brown, V., Morrissey, D., Cooper, K., & Swinton, P. A. (2023). Effect of resistance exercise dose components for tendinopathy management: a systematic review with meta-analysis. British journal of sports medicine, 57(20), 1327–1334. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2022-105754
Reis, F. J., Dias, M. D., Newlands, F., Meziat-Filho, N., & Macedo, A. R. (2015). Chronic low back pain and disability in Brazilian jiu-jitsu athletes. Physical therapy in sport: official journal of the Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Sports Medicine, 16(4), 340–343. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ptsp.2015.02.005