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ASB Classic + Heineken Open 2012

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 21:26:44 +1300

UniSports doctors Mark Fulcher, Craig Panther and Brendan O'Neil are providing the medical care to the athletes participating in the year's first WTA and ATP events. The view from their office is to die for!

Australasian College of Sports Physicians

Sat, 12 Nov 2011 13:32:48 +1300

The Sports Physicians are away this week at the Australasian College of Sports Physicians conference in Coolum. The majority of the Sports Physicians in New Zealand and Australia will be there along with a number of international experts. The conference will discuss some key issues around the care of injured athletes and the management of medical issues in a sports setting.

Exercise is Medicine

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 12:17:55 +1300

A recent study published in the August 16 online edition of the The Lancet reinforces the life gains to be had from exercise. The data shows that exercising for as little as 15 minutes a day increases life expectancy by three years. It also reduces the risk of dying from all diseases by 14%. Every additional 15 minutes of exercise performed per day further reduced all-cause mortality by 4%.

The study involved 416,175 people (men and women) living in Taiwan. It followed them for more than eight years and recorded the amount of weekly exercised each participant accumulated. The participants were then grouped by levels of activity; starting at low (15 minutes per day), medium, high or very high (60 minutes per day). Those who exercised for 15 minutes a day lived on average three year longer than those who were largely sedentary.

This study further highlights the benefits of exercise in all age groups and in both sexes. It seems that being active for as little as fifteen minutes a day can produce a significant benefit.

For more information on this study click here to go directly to the Lancet’s website.

Rugby World Cup 2011 Winners Medal

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 20:59:49 +1300

All Blacks Muscle Therapist George Duncan visited for Wine and Wisdom Friday night. He brough his World Cup Winners medal and some great stories from the campaign. Also visiting was Italian FIFA Doctor Stefano Della Villa. Like UniSports Stefano's Italian clinics are also FIFA Centres of Excellence.

Auckland Triathlon ITU World Cup Event

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 07:48:37 +1300

Dr Mark Fulcher has been appointed Medical Director for the ITU World Cup event being held in Auckland on November 2011. 110 elite athletes from around the word and 1100 age-group athletes will be participating. The event is going to be based at the Cloud on the waterfront.

New BlogEntry

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 09:13:47 +1300

UniSports Dr Chris Hanna comments on All Blacks caught drinking and smoking

Former Warriors and Kiwis doctor Chris Hanna said: "If you are binge drinking and you become dehydrated you are not going to play as well as you would have been able to in a test match. "We are talking about tiny percentages when it comes to beating the opposition at this level.

"Your ability is going to be reduced. It's just not sensible."

He said players could also have impaired judgment, dehydration and reduced ability to recover after training.

"If you consume alcohol in the first few hours after intense exercise, what you are doing is reducing your ability to replenish your muscles.

"I would never encourage binge drinking. However, it is important that the All Blacks keep doing what they have done to get this far."

Hanna said a single cigarette would reduce a player's lung capacity but it would also introduce carbon monoxide and nicotine to the player's blood.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/all-blacks/news/article.cfm?c_id=116&objectid=10757700

Bruce Twaddle Comments on Dan Carter's Troublesome Groin

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 14:49:13 +1300

UniSports surgeon Bruce Twaddle comments on Dan Carter's groin injury in NZ Herald

Mr Twaddle said "an adductor longus tendon tear did not require surgery. It knits back in place and that particular muscle does very well after that kind of injury. It's like any muscle injury - initially painful, there'll be some bruising and then it'll settle down and it's likely to return to normal over time."

"Recovery times varied greatly, Mr Twaddle said, but it would probably take four to six weeks before Carter could start doing increasing amounts of physical activity."

Hamburg WCS Elite Racing

Sun, 24 Jul 2011 09:18:48 +1200

A small team of six athletes travelled to Germany to compete in the Hamburg WCS Elite Triathlon race over the weekend. Two athletes, James Elvery and Tony Dodds were forced from the start line with injury. James tripped while running two weeks before the race, fracturing his hand and Tony suffered a terrible bike crash that left him with a total of ten stitchers around his elbow and wrist.

The flat course lent it's self towards the runners and it was hardly surprising when Australian, Brad Kahlefeldt won. Out of the New Zealanders, Kris Gemmell was the best, finishing 17th after receiving a 15 second penalty for throwing his helmet. Martin Van Barneveld had the best result of his session finishing 27th, while Ryan Sissons was feeling flat after a hard few weeks of training at altitude and finished 45th.

In the women's race it was again the Australians that dominated taking all three podium positions. Andrea Hewitt ran her fastest 10km off the bike ever finishing 4th. While Debbie Tanner had another consistent result of 25th.

Two weeks until the first Olympic Qualification race in London. Top ten finishes will be awarded automatic qualification

International Ice Hockey

Sun, 24 Jul 2011 09:11:46 +1200

The clinic provided medical care for the athletes competing in the USA vs Canada International Ice Hockey Match last night. The game featured a number of NHL players including team captains Aaron Miller (USA) and Derek Armstrong (Canada). The clinic had its own NHL veteran there too. Ross Davidson was the team physician for the Vancouver Canucks. For the record Canada won in a penalty shootout.

Counties Score First Win

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 12:48:21 +1200

Counties got back on track on Wednesday night defeating Manawatu at home. For the medical staff, calf injuries to tight head props seem to be the order of the day, consistent with what the literature tells us. A recent BJSM paper denoted key injury risks by position and tight head props are indeed more at risk of calf injuries, particularly at scrum time. Counties are away to Tasman this weekend, hoping to taste that winning feeling again.

Kitzbuhel WCS Triathlon Event

Sun, 26 Jun 2011 05:52:40 +1200

Last weekend saw the second European WCS Triathlon in the alpine Austrian town of Kitzbuhel. A strong New Zealand team including Olympic medalist Bevan Docherty battled the cold and wet conditions. Overall results were pleasing, despite the athletes struggling to brake into the top ten. In the elite mens race Alistair Brownlee from the UK once again destroyed the field to win. Bevan Docherty finished a solid 10th and Clark Ellice 18th. The women's race was won by race favorite Paula Findlay from Canada, with Nicky Samuels finishing 10th, Andrea Hewitt 11th, Kate McIlroy 12th and Debbie Tanner a respectable 22nd.

The team now splits, with half the group heading to a Germany based training camp and the other half going back to France for altitude training at the Font Romeu training center located in the Pyrenees, 1600m above sea level.

FIFA Women's World Cup

Sun, 26 Jun 2011 03:44:07 +1200

The New Zealand Women's Football team have arrived in Bochum Germany for their first game in the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup. The team is fresh from victories over Wales and Colombia and confidence is high. Twenty thousand tickets to the first match against Japan have already been sold with the match expected to be a sell-out. New Zealand last faced Japan during the Beijing Olympics where they drew 2-2 after leading by two goals.

FIFA World Cups

Thu, 16 Jun 2011 10:40:05 +1200

We have been flat out planning for three FIFA World Cups. The Football Ferns have just departed for Switzerland and Germany. They are preparing for the FIFA Women's World Cup starting in Germany later this month. They are currently in camp in Switzerland and beat Wales overnight 2-0. Dr Mark Fulcher is the Ferns' Team Physician. He departs next week to joint the team when they arrive in Bochum, Germany. Dr Tony Edwards is also due to depart to a FIFA tournament. He is travelling to Mexico for the U17 Men's World Cup where he is one of the FIFA Medical Officers for the tournament. The U20 Mens National Team are also in the process of building up for their World Cup! They have been in the clinic this week to have screening medicals and a tune up before they leave for Columbia in July.

NZRU Medical Meeting

Thu, 16 Jun 2011 09:12:53 +1200

Dr Dan Exeter and Dan Halliday, the Counties Manukau Steelers' medical team attended the NZRU Medical Conference in Wellington this week. Hosted the Dr Steve Targett, the NZRU Medical Director, the day consisted of a pitchside emergency scenario refresher, and a series of informative discussions on aspects of injury management and prevention. With a compressed schedule this year, teams will need good player management and a hint of luck to be in the mix at the season's end. The Steelers will be looking to push hard for the a place in the ITM Championship final on September 3rd, and we will keep you updated on their progress.

The latest from Caleb and NZ Triathlon

Fri, 03 Jun 2011 08:10:38 +1200

Caleb Hill is the team physiotherapist for the New Zealand Triathlon Elite Squad and is currently traveling with them in Europe.

From Cairns the team has moved to a European base in the south of France for the northern hemisphere summer. For the last three weeks we have been spoiled with fine clear days and temperatures reaching above 30 degrees in Sete. Training has been great with the pool less than a minute down the road, running trails 20 minutes away, great cycling and very few injuries! The size of the squad has doubled and last weekend saw nine athletes compete at the Elite World Championship Series (WCS) race in Madrid. Even though we did not manage to get any athletes on the podium, it was still a very successful weekend with outstanding results from Andrea Hewitt (4th), Kate McIlroy (6th), James Elvery (15th), Ryan Sissons (19th) and Clark Ellice (23rd). Unfortunately, due to the spring conditions and a huge amount of pollen in the air, local clinic hero Debbie Tanner did not finish after suffering breathing difficulties.

The team now starts to split between Sete (the beach) and Font Romue (the mountains, altitude 1600m). In two weeks I will head to Austria for the second European WCS race with the NZ national coach, Greg Fraine and six athletes.

All Whites 0 Mexico 3

Fri, 03 Jun 2011 07:47:50 +1200

Dr Mark Fulcher is the All Whites Team Physician. He is travelling with them to Denver and Adelaide.

The All Whites went down three goals to one last night to a very good Mexican Team. The team is currenly in recovery mode spending today in Denver before departing this evening for Adelaide and a game against Australia on the 5th of June. The guys have been through a pool recovery session and are in good spirits. Unfortunately we have lost two of the starting team to injury. Simon Elliott has a hamstring strain and returns to his club side Chivas USA while central defender Winston Reid returns to Europe after sustaining a groin injury.

On Tour with the New Zealand Triathlon Team

Tue, 17 May 2011 14:19:28 +1200

Hi Everyone

As most of you already know Anouska and I are currently on tour with the New Zealand Triathlon squad. We have been in Cairns for the last two weeks and the weather has been unbelievable, between 27-29 degrees every day. Due to the cancelation of the World Championship Series race in Yokohama, Japan, only five athletes have come to Cairns for this camp, which has meant a lot of downtime for the staff. Lucky we have managed to fill this time with going to the beach, drinking coffee, diving the Great Barrier Reef and local wildlife adventures.

Anouska left for London last night, and I will bemeeting her in the south of France on Monday. We will be there for three weeks with a much bigger group of athletes preparing for the next World Championship Series event in Madrid, aiming to score points that will give New Zealand Olympic spots for next year.

Hope your all well.

Caleb

All Whites and Unisports to Denver and Adelaide

Fri, 13 May 2011 13:55:02 +1200

The All Whites and Unisports’ Doctor Mark Fulcher are preparing to fly to Denver and Adelaide for internationals against Mexico and Australia. Both teams are ranked in the World top 20 so the trip promises to be challenging. In addition to the challenges posed by the opposition the team will have to cope with travelling more than 30,000 kilometers in less than seven days and coping with playing at an altitude of 1700meters in Denver. Dr Fulcher has been busy preparing strategies to help the team acclimatise.

Dr Dan Exeter is readying the Counties Manukau Steelers

Fri, 13 May 2011 13:53:58 +1200

Dr Dan Exeter is readying the Counties Manukau Steelers as they prepare for the 2011 ITM Cup. Pre-season screening for the non-Super Rugby players is well underway. With a compressed competition window this year due to the Rugby World Cup, indentifying potential injuries and looking at training loads takes on extra importance. This need to monitor players carefully takes on even greater significance with the union’s increased representation the expanded Super Rugby this year. In collaboration with Dan Halliday, team physio and Steelers trainers Sam Higgins and Tony Burgess, protocols have been set in place to better manage soft tissue injuries, assess training loads and aid recovery. The team are looking to improve even further following last’s years creditable performance.