Get Back To Your Sport: Franciscan Health’s Return To Play Program

One wrong step can significantly affect your body, even at the healthiest point in your life. Alongside nutrients and exercise, keeping up with your posture, balance, and awareness of your form is critical in restoring and maintaining your body's overall functionality.

As a football player, Keagan Burge is used to getting knocked down. But when a season-ending injury in practice hit him hard, the center from Carroll Junior-Senior High School in Flora, Indiana, found a new team in the Franciscan Health Sports Medicine specialists that helped him get back on his feet.

On the first day of his sophomore year, Keagan took one awkward step at practice and heard a pop.

Keagan tore his knee's anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). After surgery to repair his ACL, Franciscan Health Sports Medicine's Return to Play Program provided extra support to Keagan to return to his sport quickly and safely.

Hard Work And Communication During ACL Recovery

Keagan met with his physical therapy assistant, Corina Riggins, ATC, PTA, twice each week at Franciscan Health's Physical Therapy Clinic at the Lafayette YMCA.

Alongside his time with the physical therapy assistant, Keagan also worked with Franciscan Health athletic trainer Sammi Compton, MS, LAT, ATC, who works full-time at Carroll Junior-Senior High School. Compton trained with Keagan two or three times a week on sports-specific activities.

Keagan's efforts toward his recovery didn't stop outside of the clinic and school. His mom, Kelli Burge, also encouraged him to do at-home exercises regularly.

"They did have quite a bit of communication," Kelli said. "If Corina was seeing something that he wasn't doing as well, Sammi was able to help with that, and then at home he had to make sure and do his part and do the exercises again at home every night."

Having athletic trainers at the clinic and at school who communicate with each other helps set the Franciscan Health Sports Medicine Program apart, Riggins said.

"Since most of an athlete's success depends on what they're doing outside of those sessions, having an athletic trainer at school on the days off from the clinic ensures a smoother and more efficient recovery," she said.

"We always reach out to the athletic trainer at the school," Riggins said. "We let them know what we're doing and get their help. The carryover is so much better. It's a good team approach."

Sometimes it takes a bit of creativity on top of accountability.

"When you have an injury like that, you lose confidence in your ability to move," Compton said. "We had foam boxes for box jumps. He would work on stepping up and then jumping down and landing. And then we'd slowly increase the height. We got to the point where we would put three different sizes in front of him in different directions. That helped build his confidence to let him know that his body is ready."

The Role Of Physical Therapy Sessions And Athletic Training

Both physical therapy and athletic training are crucial in the overall recovery of athletes in a similar situation as Keagan.

The goal of an athletic trainer is to keep up with the physical examination of student-athletes and emphasize injury prevention during games and practice. When injuries happen on the field or court, they'll be the first to know what to do during and after an injury and who to call.

Physical therapists and their assistants are all about helping their patients recover and, in the case of Keagan and other student-athletes, prevent them from re-injuring themselves.

It's crucial for these specialists to help their patients through mobility and strengthening sessions alongside warm-ups, massaging, and stabilizing equipment to manage the wear and tear they'll be experiencing as they return to their sport.

Better Form And Better Confidence

At first, Keagan admitted that he didn't have much confidence that his repaired ACL could handle his role as a football player. He explained that he's used to constantly getting knocked down during games and practice.

"Both Corina and Sammi were really good at motivating me to keep on going," Keagan said.

Keagan is happy to say he's finally back on the field and ready to tackle his junior year season. He even expressed how his coach and peers are confident in his recovery.

"I think this year they want me to be starting, so that's pretty cool," Keagan said.