PhysioUpdate 28th September 2021

Women footballers who need rehabilitation following an injury generally receive an inferior response when compared to their male counterparts, according to Brighton and Hove Albion forward Danielle Carter.

In an article appearing in today's Guardian newspaper (24 September) that goes into some detail about the anterior cruciate ligament injuries that disrupted her career, Ms Carter, 28, says that women players' recovery is often delayed because they have to wait for treatment from NHS clinicians.

'In the WSL [Women's Super League] we’re more fortunate than other female players because we sort of do get that support, whether it’s through the men’s insurance, or the men’s teams,' she says.

'We’re covered a lot better than Championship players, who are only a step below us, but there’s been incidents which have been well documented that show that they don’t get the help that they should get as athletes.

'They’ve got to wait for the NHS and, no disrespect to the NHS, but in terms of starting your recovery and your rehab as soon as possible we know the NHS is under enormous pressure and it’s going to be delayed … There’s a lot more that can be done.'

Ms Carter, who signed a two-year contract with Albion in the summer for an undisclosed fee, previously played for Reading and Arsenal and has represented England. She left Arsenal for Reading in 2019 after spending 14 months recovering from two knee injuries. 

Praise for Brighton's facilities

The facilities on offer at Brighton have impressed her, as she tells the Guardian: 'The new training ground that we’ve moved into is second to none, in my opinion.

'That’ll be massive in terms of our development as a team. There’ll be no excuses. There’s no way that we can cut corners or say that we haven’t got access to state of the art of anything. It’s a real turning point for women’s football and for Brighton, for the shared belief across the club. So the men have got X but we’ve got X as well.'

To read the article in full, visit: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/sep/24/brighton-danielle-carter-acl-injuries-arsenal

Public Health England (PHE) has unveiled the latest version of a campaign – which is called 'Stoptober' and was first launched about this time of year in 2012 – that aims to encourage smokers to give up the habit during October.

The launch of the campaign, which is being backed by leading respiratory charities such as Asthma UK, coincided with the publication of new research suggesting that many smokers increased their intake during the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to PHE, a nationwide online survey of 2,000 current smokers – the results of which were released yesterday (20 September) – found that nearly one respondent in two (45 per cent) said their habit had worsened since the start of the first lockdown.

Many of those who took part in the survey – which was conducted by Opinium among adults over 11 days at the end of August – blamed the boredom of lockdown (43 per cent) for the increase or said the pandemic had made them more anxious (42 per cent). 

Pelvic health physiotherapist Elaine Miller has never been comfortable sitting inside a pre-ordained professional box. She has courted controversy by using humour as an unconventional way to reach new audiences and reduce the stigma that has traditionally surrounded issues such as incontinence and sexual difficulties.

But with the recent publication of an article* – which she co-wrote with five Australia-based colleagues – in a highly respected public health journal, Elaine's approach has finally received some of the scientific backing that could encourage others to follow her lead. Here, she takes part in a Q&A with PhysioUpdate editor Ian A McMillan.