When Narendra Puvimanasinghe first walked through the doors of Vitality Physical Medicine he did not quite know what to expect. His love of cricket and his shoulder pain is what prompted him to seek help in the first place but little did he know he would end up learning much more and improving his game more dramatically than he ever thought possible.
For Narendra It was just another cricket club practice session, on June 28, 2018 at Sunnybrook Park – he was taking the last few catches for the day. He got a low diving catch and jumped forward, took the catch but then landed awkwardly on his right shoulder. He distinctly remembers feeling a shooting pain and knew something was wrong. The next day, he found out that he had a slight tear in a ligament located near the AC joint on his right shoulder.
After months of rest Narendra eventually heard of Dr. Rudy Singh and Vitality Physical medicine through Sanjay Thuraisingam, coach at Action Zone. At that point, he was very keen on getting back to full strength in his shoulder as he was unable to throw or bowl a cricket ball. It goes without saying that, Narendra’s road to a full recovery was spearheaded by Dr. Rudy Singh Chiropractor and Lisa Malcolm the Registered Kinesiologist. They first began with three recovery sessions a week for approximately three weeks. During this time Narendra was given multiple exercises with the use of a resistance band that were done on a daily basis; which has since become a part of his training routine.
After a thorough assessment to diagnose Narendra’s injuries, he began treatment and immediately started experiencing positive results. His treatment consisted of a combination of laser therapy, electrical muscle stimulation, pulsed electromagnetic field therapy, spinal decompression, postural retraining, chiropractic adjustments, registered massage therapy and therapeutic exercise prescription.
Narendra was excellent at adhering to his treatment plan and exercise protocol and very quickly he stated his shoulder was at “150%” from where he was prior to his injury. For a person to achieve 100% recovery within a few visits is an excellent response to the treatment plan. For a person to report that he was significantly better than even before his injury is quite remarkable and what the staff and management at Vitality Physical Medicine strive for. They are committed to educating patients to help get them better quickly, help to prevent future injuries and to improve the overall quality of life of our patients. Narendra was eager to explore other components of his fitness, posture, and cricket playing technique to further enhance his game.
Within the first 2-weeks Narendra started noticing a massive difference in his body. He was definitely getting stronger. Physically, he started noticing that there was less pain, especially when his injured shoulder was in motion. For Narendra It was incredible to see the rewards of his hard work – day by day his body was looking more and more toned. Eventually he was given the green light by Dr. Singh that he was cleared to bowl and throw the ball. However, he still could not throw with full power, so as Doctor and patient Dr Singh and Narendra had some great discussions on how he could gradually get back full power. During this time Narendra would still feel aches and pains all over his upper back/shoulder area. However, through his continued recovery sessions at Vitality he was able to get back to the nets and the gym in full strength. In addition, Narendra was looking to enhance his knowledge on free weight workouts; both Dr. Singh and Lisa were very helpful in teaching him the proper form and technique to perform at the gym. These workouts were cricket specific and really made Narendra feel more of a complete cricketer.
Once Narendra eventually became was pain-free, his goals quickly shifted to enhancing his athletic performance. His Vitality Care Providers began to focus on agility training, flexibility, power, speed, general health and wellness, post-game recovery, proper warm-up and cool-down protocols, and strategies to use on the sidelines to enhance performance and prevent injuries. His visits also began to include facial stretch therapy, biomechanical gait analysis and enhanced exercise prescription.
During off-season, Narendra’s training became quite intensive; up to 3-days of cricket practice, along with 3-days of the gym. He would also perform the routine exercises that had been suggested by Dr. Singh and Lisa Malcolm every morning before work. Vitality has helped him keep his body at its optimal condition to continue all of his training pain free.
Narendra also began regular deep tissue massages with Vitality Physical Medicine’s, Registered Massage Therapist and Facial Stretch Therapist Vanessa Rojas, which has been an incredible therapeutic experience. He was able to relieve all the stress and tightness in his upper back and in his neck area. While going for his regular weekly appointments, Narendra was also made aware of Vitality’s Chiropodist “Michelle Richardson and what this practice could do for him. He ended up ordering his first pair of orthotics and hasn’t look back since. It has provided him with more stability and strength in his legs. Although, it did take some time getting used to this new addition to his shoes, Narendra has felt the benefits tremendously as feels that he is now in a far more powerful position to make quick movements/reflexes.
Since the age of 13, Narendra’s passion has been playing cricket and his goal is to one-day play for Canada. His entire athletic experience at Vitality has been a wonderful journey thus far and it has definitely changed the way he approaches his conditioning, both mentally and physically. Throughout the last 9 months Narendra has learned that training smarter is way more important than training harder. He now strongly feels that with his continued partnership with Vitality Physical Medicine, he is on the right path to achieving his athletic goals.
If the goal is to improve athletic performance as an athlete, it isn’t enough to be just dedicated to your sport. It is equally important to focus on your approach to training, nutrition, and even rest. In order to hone your athletic skills, it is imperative to have the right training program for your personal needs and the specific sport. In most cases, isolation exercises will not be sufficient to make significant improvements in skill level. This is where functional exercises become critical.
Functional routines aim to strengthen and improve the movements needed in a specific sport. The focus is not only to improve movements and technique, but also to decrease the likelihood of an injury. An assessment with a sports-specialist practitioner will enable you to identify the areas of your body that need to be targeted. Vitality Physical Medicine’s Management and Staff pride them selves on fully educating their patients as a mans of providing them with useful information that they can immediately apply to their training, their sport or their lifestyle.
Vitality Physical Medicine is a multidisciplinary clinic for acute pain, wellness, and performance enhancement. Their highly experienced team of practitioners work synergistically to help patients achieve their health and athletic performance goals. Injuries are typically what bring patients into the clinic, but it is the Vitality Physical Medicine Management & Staff’s commitment to excellence, wellness, performance enhancement is what keeps them coming back. No matter what level you are at, they can help you achieve your goals and be the healthiest, fittest version of yourself.