Do you have a sign or digital wallpaper in your home/office that says Gone Fishin’? Then you’re a self-designated fisherman or fisherwoman. While you’re set to enjoy another season on the waterfront, riverside, dock or deep sea there’s one thing that can lure you away from the activity that you love to do – pain and discomfort. To keep physical impediments from impacting your cast, make physiotherapy a part of your path. Let’s review.
Why Hardcore Fishing Enthusiasts Should Make Physiotherapy a Part of Their Life
Treatment for Common Fisher Injuries
Aside from baiting hook finger pokes, there are a variety of musculoskeletal injuries experienced by fishers that can keep you away from the water or simply impact your ability to reel in your catch. A disproportionate number (nearly 50%) occur exclusively in the upper extremities. Most injuries come from repetitive overuse as you continually cast your rod and reel it back in. Others are acute in nature, which may occur when you’ve hooked an especially large beast and have to fight to bring it aboard your watercraft. These common injuries are listed below. We have also included links to our treatment methodologies so that you know what to expect during your sessions.
- Tennis elbow (err…fishing elbow?)
- Hand and wrist strain
- Rotator cuff tendonitis
- Ligament sprains and tears
- Carpal tunnel syndrome
- Sustained muscular contraction (spasms)
The above injuries are joined by fractures and breaks sustained via slip and falls from a boat, dock, or slippery rocks, which require post-physician physiotherapy intervention.
A full service physiotherapy clinic has tackle box of treatments and therapies that can be employed to address all that ails you. Your interdisciplinary rehabilitation program for fishers may include some combination of chiropractic work, massage therapy, TCM acupuncture and dry needling, and more. Your program will be customized to account for the type of fishing you do (bait fishing, deep sea fishing, fly fishing, spinning) along with your goals and lifestyle (work and other activities).
Prevention of Future Fishing Injuries
Wearing appropriate gear and using equipment that is more comfortable for you to handle is important to remaining injury free. That said, there is no better injury prevention measure than ongoing physiotherapy. A physical therapist is not only a healer for reelers, but also a risk forecaster who can identify potential injuries due to your medical history and distinct musculoskeletal composition. They will prescribe a program of movements, stretches, and exercises for you to do in-clinic and at-home, in addition to warm-ups and cool-downs to be done immediately before and after fishing. Collectively this will help keep you injury-free and ready to tackle the Old Man & The Sea marlin in your life. The words “the one that got away” may never again apply to you.
If you’re a Greater Vancouver BC area fisher, schedule your first consultation at our Burnaby physiotherapy clinic today. Complete the form found here, or give us a ring at 604.558.2273 to book your appointment.