Health Matters To Help People Be Healthy
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September 2015
An Athlete’s Advantage From prevention to dealing with injuries and rehabilitation, Hays Medical Center offers help for all.
HaysMed
Provided to our patrons free of charge
Photo by JOLIE GREEN Physical therapist Jill Billinger and certified athletic trainer Jenny Guernsey, right, demonstrate stretching exercises used in a rehabilitation session at HaysMed Outpatient Rehabilition.
Why prevention is pivotal F or an athlete, training the body to be physically prepared for twists, turns, impact and fatigue is extremely important. Through routine strength and conditioning, Hays Medical Center’s athletic trainers and physical therapists continue to guide local athletes as they transform their bodies into shields against possible injury. There are many ways sports injury and illness can be prevented, including maintaining a healthy diet, and regularly stretching and Guernsey participating in physical activity. HaysMed athletic trainer Jenny Guernsey works directly with athletes on the field and court. She sees firsthand the effect a poor diet can have. “Nutrition enhances performance and is our key fuel for Page 2
energy,” Guernsey said. “A poor diet can hamper performance and cause problems.” If an athlete attempts to progress in their activities and has a poor diet, the body can become exhausted and fatigued much more quickly, and mechanics can change and create an injury, according to HaysMed physical therapist Jill Billinger. Physical injuries also can be prevented by simply warming up the body prior to strenuous exercise. Billinger “Warming up gets the blood flowing,” Guernsey said. “We always want to get the muscles ready through stretching and conditioning before becoming active.”
See PREVENTION, page 5
Prevention
Health Matters
When injury is inevitable
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ometimes, no matter how much effort an athlete puts into preparing, training and conditioning, unavoidable injuries still happen. It is important to remember there are places to go that provide services designed to specifically meet the needs of area athletes. For example, located within Hays Orthopaedic Clinic, Hays Medical Center offers its Sports Injury Walk-In Clinic — a reliable and speedy option for injured athletes. “We want to provide a convenience to patients, so we have a walk-in clinic that allows them to be seen without having to schedule an appointment,” said Sonya Garrett, clerical supervisor. “It’s for all our schools — Fort Hays, Hays High, TMP, middle school and all the schools in western Kansas,” said Dr. Gulraiz Cheema, M.D. and FHSU adjunct professor in sports Garrett medicine. Garrett explained the clinic is open Mondays and Thursdays for the duration of the school year. During football season, service is also provided Saturdays. “We do that from around September to Cheema November to help accommodate football injuries that happen during Friday night games,” Garrett said of the Saturday service. Even though the sports medicine walk-in clinic is only open during the school year, more than student athletes are welcome to use it. “A patient who has any type of sports injury can walk in and be seen,” Garrett said. “It doesn’t have to be a school sports injury; as long as it is a sports injury, you can use the service.” “It’s basically for any active injury for any age group,” Cheema said. Several orthopedic surgeons and physicians are available to treat a variety of injuries at the clinic. Cheema, who said he mostly encounters foot and ankle injuries, is Health Matters
Photo by JOLIE GREEN Sharon Bittel, LPN, clinic nurse supervisor, left, and Kendahl Garrett demonstrate an appointment and consultation at the clinic.
The front desk area at HaysMed Orthopedic Clinic
impressed with the variety of injuries treated at the facility. “Overall, we cater to all the sports injuries here, and we are very pleased with that,” he said. Providing such a service to Hays and the surrounding communities is important to HaysMed’s leaders. “We don’t want these injured athletes traveling to Kansas City or Wichita to be seen more quickly,” Cheema said. Garrett explained the clinic wants to be there for its patients, to make sure they’re
Injury
being taken care of and remain able to participate in sports. The HaysMed Sports Injury Walk-In Clinic is open through the school year, which began in late August. Walk-in times are from 8 to 9 a.m. Mondays and Thursdays through May, and 9 to 10 a.m. Saturdays during football season. “We feel this service is very helpful because you don’t have to set up an appointment,” Cheema said. “Just walk in and be seen.” • By MAGGIE GEBHARDT Page 3
Photo by JOLIE GREEN Certified athletic trainer Jenny Guernsey, left, counts and marks errors as physical therapist Jill Billinger demonstrates the single-leg stance, an exercise used in baseline testing conducted before athletes endure a concussion, at HaysMed Outpatient Rehabilitation. The test is then repeated after an athlete gets a concussion.
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Bouncing back
hough suffering from an injury and undergoing treatment can seem tedious and time consuming, the work put into returning to the game can often be just as tough. After injuries occur, Hays Medical Center is prepared to assist with the rebuilding process — putting the body through rehabilitation in hopes of returning it to its pre-injured state. The hospital’s team of physical therapists work with injured athletes using specifically designed treatment methods and equipment to enhance and quicken Page 4
the healing process. “If there is an injury that does not require surgery and needs rehabilitation, the athlete can come straight to outpatient physical therapy with direct access,” said HaysMed physical therapist Jill Billinger. The physical therapists assist anyone from children to adults and work closely with student athletes, providing therapy after injuries including broken and fractured bones, sprains, tears and pulled muscles. Many injuries, if not treated properly, can lead to extensive, long-term problems.
Rehabilitation
Therefore, physical therapy is in great demand, according to Billinger. “ACL reconstruction is an example of an injury that can effect an athlete for the rest of his or her life if they don’t rehab properly,” she said. “The same goes for injuries like an ankle sprain. A delay in the appropriate treatment can result in longstanding impairments.” A concussion is another example of a physical danger athletes must be sure to care for properly, or severe problems might be revealed down the road.
See RECOVER, page 5 Health Matters
RECOVER, from page 4 “A few years ago, they weren’t taken as seriously,” said HaysMed athletic trainer Jenny Guernsey. “If you got hit in the head during a game, you would go back in if your symptoms cleared up.” The importance of properly caring for this injury might be the most emphasized in the athletic world today. “It’s a traumatic brain injury. It’s not like a sprained ankle,” Guernsey said. “Your brain is actually getting twisted or hitting the side of the skull. It can stun the brain cells, or it can kill them. It’s a serious issue.” Billinger and Guernsey explained athletes who suffer from concussions can develop post concussive syndrome, which means symptoms can go on for months or years. “They’re saying now that repetitive trauma can be just as bad as one severe impact,” Billinger said. “The numbers matter just as much, if not more.” Athletic trainers perform baseline tests to examine an athlete’s mental awareness before injuries ever occur, so when an accident does happen, they can more accurately read the damage done. “My goal is to do whatever it takes to get them back to their life,” Billinger said. “A lot of time, they will be held out of
Photo by JOLIE GREEN DeAndrea Krein, radiology lead technologist, left, and Amy Sterling demonstrate a patient receiving an X-ray for a knee injury at the Hays Orthopaedic Clinic.
school because they can’t concentrate.” Whether athletes suffer from broken bones, strains or concussions, helping them bounce back to their normal routine is most rewarding, according to Billinger and Guernsey. “I see them when they’re injured and how traumatic that is, so seeing them get back out on the field and participate
at 100 percent, that’s rewarding enough and makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something in my job,” Guernsey said. “I like seeing the athletes try to reach their goals of returning back to their sport,” Billinger said. “I enjoy that full circle — seeing them rehab and get back to what they love to do.”
Certified Athletic Trainer Shawn LandThe importance of preparing the ers helps athletes condition and reach lungs for high levels of activity also was athletic potentials through HaysMed’s emphasized by Billinger and Guernsey. Athletic Edge — an intense physical proAsthma, for example, can be extremegram designed to help improve power, ly dangerous and sometimes life-threatspeed, agility and stability. ening if not handled correctly. “There is a lot of injury pre“Exercise-induced asthma can vention through the program,” be a big problem,” Guernsey said. Landers said. “The main focus is to “Athletes begin to feel that tightmake someone stronger and fastness in their chest, and they keep er to lower their chance of injury.” pushing themselves, which will Athletes must also become lead to an asthma attack.” acclimated to their environment The athletic trainer explained Landers before they perform, according the most common signs of an to Guernsey. This can mean adapting asthma attack are shortness of breath, to certain temperatures, amongst other fatigue, finding it difficult to breathe and environmental obstacles. feeling ill or light-headed. “If they don’t become acclimated, their Sometimes, allergies and asthma can performance will be much worse when be confused for one another. In these they get out there,” Guernsey said. cases, Guernsey said she will typically
treat the symptoms as if they are asthma — just to be safe. Through time, physical activity can and will help improve the struggles asthma brings, according to Guernsey. “Research shows being physically active improves your symptoms over being sedentary,” she said. “Exercising your lungs and using your lungs is better.” No matter the injury an athlete might try to prevent, it is most important to remember never to overexert oneself, to know limits and to remain educated on signs and symptoms, according to Billinger and Guernsey. “We want to make the athletes physically prepared. Getting them ready helps decrease the risk of having an injury,” Guernsey said. “Our goal is to help them perform at the best of their abilities.”
• By MAGGIE GEBHARDT
PREVENTION, from page 2
• By MAGGIE GEBHARDT Health Matters
Rehabilitation
Page 5
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