Technology and Osteopathy, the secret of elite football: interview with the national football team's osteopath Walter Martinelli
November 2022 -Sara Scatena
A Bit About Me
Technology is increasingly integrated into the therapeutic protocols of the various healthcare professionals who work synergistically for the treatment and prevention of injuries to athletes in elite football. The frenetic pace to which professional athletes are often subjected requires, more than ever, physiotherapists, osteopaths and athletic trainers to always be at the cutting edge to exploit all scientific discoveries for the benefit of patients' health. And from science comes the help offered by an innovative medical device, Limfa Therapy, to accelerate and improve post-trauma or post-surgery recovery. He tells us about itWalter Martinelli, osteopath of the Italian national football team since 2015 and head of physiotherapy of AS Roma, who thanks to his great experience in the sporting field has been able to work with top-notch athletes at an international level.
We asked him how he discovered the all-Italian Limfa Therapy technology and how he integrated a medical device for tissue repair into his daily practice.
“I got to know Limfa Therapy through the constant scientific medical updating activity to which I usually dedicate part of my time and also thanks to the positive feedback received from a friend and colleague of mine, Federico Genoves, who was already using it with satisfaction at Manchester City. For these reasons I became curious and decided to try it. Today I use it mostly in cases of blunt trauma, chondropathies, fractures and hematomas. Being an independent operator device, I can easily integrate it with both manual therapy techniques and other physical therapies."
Pain management today represents only one of the aspects related to the management of the injured athlete. In order to improve in the right time and in the right way, it is necessary to start treating patients immediately and working on the tissues at 360 degrees, also with the help of advanced technologies:
“In post-traumatic situations, Limfa Therapy allows me not only to reduce painful symptoms, but, by working deeper, also inflammation and swelling, stimulating the repair and therefore healing process. In the acute phase, it is very useful for reducing inflammation and edema, while in the long term it facilitates and accelerates the resolution of chondropathies and fractures, including stress ones, which cause annoying joint pain and which drag on for some time. In my experience, in several cases of chondropathies and fractures that required longer healing times, I have had the opportunity to use it for a greater number of treatments, finding very good results with evident benefits for the patient also in terms of mobility."
When dealing with professionals, it is also important to consider being able to convey trust and security to the athlete so that he can actively participate in the recovery process.
“Athletes do not perceive anything during the treatment because it is bio-stimulation, so from a sensorial point of view they do not feel anything; but like all patients, athletes also evaluate the final benefit, which on average I consider to be very good.
I was very struck by the ease of use and convenience of this technology which, being the size of a computer, can easily be taken on trips and during retreat periods."
