Why You Keep Getting the Same Injury: A Sports Therapist's Guide to Breaking the Cycle

You've been here before. The injury flared up, you rested it, it felt better, you went back to training — and within weeks or months, it was back. Same location, same sensation, sometimes worse. You've been told it's a muscle strain. You've been told to "take it easy." You've iced, elevated, and foam rolled. And yet here you are again.

This is not bad luck. It is a predictable consequence of treating a symptom without addressing its cause.

At Marques Therapy in London SE1, this presentation — the client in their third or fourth cycle of the same injury — is one of the most common we see. It's also one of the most satisfying to properly resolve. This guide explains the biology of recurring injury and what a clinical approach to breaking the cycle actually looks like.

Why Rest Alone Does Not Fix a Recurring Injury

When an injury occurs — a muscle strain, a tendon flare, a joint sprain — the body initiates a repair process. Inflammation rises, cells migrate to the site, tissue is rebuilt. Given sufficient rest, the pain resolves. The repair process completes. And everything feels functional again.

The problem is what doesn't get fixed during that rest period.

Movement dysfunction that caused the injury: Every injury has a mechanical cause. A hamstring strain, for example, rarely happens because the hamstring is simply weak. It happens because there is a movement fault — a pelvis that tilts excessively under load, a hip flexor so tight it alters the hamstring's working length, a gluteal muscle not activating properly on the affected side. Until that fault is corrected, the hamstring is always going to be under abnormal load. It will strain again.

Scar tissue and tissue quality: The repair tissue the body lays down after injury is not identical to the original tissue. It is less organised, less elastic, and more susceptible to re-injury. Without specific manual intervention to remodel that tissue, it remains a point of structural vulnerability.

Neuromuscular inhibition: After injury, the nervous system often reduces its activation signal to the muscles surrounding the affected area — a protective mechanism that persists long after the original threat has passed. This inhibition leaves the injured area under-supported and prone to re-loading under conditions the muscles cannot manage.

None of these are addressed by rest. They require specific clinical intervention.

The Most Common Recurring Injuries We Treat in London

At Marques Therapy, we work with a wide range of athletes and active people — runners completing the London Marathon route through Bermondsey and Tower Bridge, cyclists commuting from Southwark to the City, triathletes, gym-goers, and sport-specific athletes across SE1 and Central London. The most frequently recurring injuries we see include:

Achilles tendinopathy — chronic Achilles pain that flares on return to running, resolves with rest, and returns again. Classic mid-portion or insertional tendinopathy requires load management and, for persistent cases, shockwave therapy to stimulate genuine tissue regeneration.

Hamstring strain — the most common recurring injury in running and team sport. Almost always driven by a hip flexor/hamstring length imbalance or gluteal inhibition. Treatment without addressing the movement fault produces a temporary result.

IT band syndrome — lateral knee pain in runners. Rarely a problem with the IT band itself — most commonly a hip abductor weakness and running gait fault. Foam rolling the IT band provides temporary relief. Correcting the hip provides a lasting solution.

Rotator cuff strains and impingement — shoulder pain that recurs in gym-goers, swimmers, and throwing sport athletes. Almost always driven by scapular dyskinesia — abnormal movement of the shoulder blade — and associated muscle imbalances that can be clearly identified on assessment.

Plantar fasciitis — heel and foot pain that is exquisitely painful first thing in the morning. Driven by calf and plantar fascia tightness, altered foot biomechanics, and sometimes Achilles insufficiency. Responds well to a combination of manual therapy, dry needling, and load management.

Lower back recurrence — the majority of people who have one episode of lower back pain will have another. The recurrence is almost always biomechanical — and almost always preventable with the right clinical programme.

What a Proper Clinical Assessment Reveals

The most important difference between treatment that produces lasting results and treatment that doesn't is the quality of the assessment that precedes it.

At Marques Therapy, every initial appointment begins with a structured clinical assessment. Sosthenes Marques has over 20 years of experience in sports therapy and biomechanics — the specific expertise required to look at how a body moves and identify the mechanical faults driving injury recurrence.

The assessment typically includes:

• Movement screening: How you squat, hinge, run, or perform sport-specific movements reveals dysfunction that static assessment misses entirely.

• Strength testing: Identifies specific muscle groups that are inhibited, weak, or asymmetrical — particularly the hip stabilisers, rotator cuff, and spinal extensors.

• Tissue quality assessment: Palpation of the injured and surrounding tissue identifies areas of scar tissue, trigger points, and abnormal tissue compliance.

• Joint mobility testing: Determines which joints are hypomobile (restricted) and contributing to compensatory overload elsewhere in the chain.

From this assessment, a specific diagnosis is formed — not "hamstring strain" but "recurring left hamstring strain secondary to left hip flexor restriction and gluteal inhibition in the push-off phase of running gait." That level of specificity is what makes the treatment plan work.

The Treatment Approach: What Actually Breaks the Cycle

Treatment at Marques Therapy for recurring injuries combines multiple modalities, sequenced and applied based on what the assessment reveals:

Sports massage and manual therapy: Precision soft tissue work targeting the specific muscles, fascia, and joints identified in the assessment. This reduces the protective tension pattern, restores tissue quality, and creates the conditions for rehabilitation to work.

Dry needling: For trigger points in the muscles surrounding the injury site, and for releasing the neurological inhibition patterns that maintain dysfunction. Particularly effective for hamstring, gluteal, and rotator cuff presentations.

Shockwave therapy: For tendinopathies — Achilles, patellar, plantar fascia, and rotator cuff — shockwave therapy is the most evidence-supported intervention for stimulating genuine tissue regeneration in tendons that have entered a degenerative cycle. It delivers focused acoustic energy to the tendon, breaking down dysfunctional tissue and triggering a repair response that rest and exercise alone cannot initiate.

Dynamic taping: Applied during the rehabilitation phase to support correct movement patterns and offload vulnerable structures while strength and coordination are rebuilt.

Rehabilitation programming: Specific exercises designed to address the exact movement faults and muscle inhibitions identified in the assessment. These are not generic "injury exercises" — they are targeted drills matched to the individual biomechanical findings.

Getting Back to Training — and Staying There

The goal is not just to get you out of pain. It is to get you back to full training capacity with a body that is structurally more resilient than it was before the injury — so the cycle ends.

Most clients with recurring injuries follow a programme of 6–10 sessions over 8–12 weeks, combining manual therapy, dry needling, and progressive rehabilitation loading. Shockwave therapy for tendinopathy is typically delivered in a course of 3–6 weekly sessions.

Sosthenes Marques will give you an honest assessment of your prognosis at the first appointment. If imaging is required to inform the diagnosis, appropriate referral will be made.

Serving Athletes and Active People Across South and Central London

Marques Therapy is located at 88 Southwark Bridge Rd in the heart of SE1 — accessible from London Bridge (5 minutes), Borough (5 minutes), Bermondsey (10 minutes), Elephant & Castle (10 minutes), Waterloo (15 minutes), and the City of London (10 minutes via Northern line).

For clients in Canary Wharf, Stratford, or further afield, the Jubilee line to London Bridge makes Marques Therapy one of the most accessible specialist sports therapy clinics in Central London.

Home visits are available for clients who cannot attend in person — the same clinical standard, delivered at your location.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How do I know if my injury is recurring because it wasn't treated properly? A: If you have had the same injury more than twice in the same location, and rest resolves the pain each time but it returns on resumption of activity, the underlying cause has not been addressed. A proper clinical assessment will identify the mechanical driver within the first appointment.

Q: Is shockwave therapy painful? A: Shockwave therapy produces an intense sensation at the treatment site — most clients describe it as a sharp, deep pressure that is uncomfortable but manageable. The discomfort is temporary and resolves within minutes of the session ending. The therapeutic effect depends on delivering the treatment at a clinically effective intensity.

Q: How long will it take to return to sport after a recurring hamstring injury? A: This depends on the severity of the current episode, the history of previous injuries, and the findings of the assessment. Most clients with recurring hamstring strains return to sport within 4–8 weeks when following a specific programme. Sosthenes Marques will give a realistic timeline at the first appointment.

Q: Can I continue training while being treated for a recurring injury? A: In most cases, modified training continues throughout the rehabilitation programme. The goal is to manage load — reducing the specific stimulus that aggravates the injury while maintaining as much training volume and fitness as possible. Complete rest is rarely the correct approach for more than the first week.

Q: Do you treat sports injuries from specific sports? A: Yes. Marques Therapy works with runners, cyclists, triathletes, swimmers, gym-goers, footballers, and racket sport players. Sosthenes Marques has specific experience in the biomechanics of endurance sport and gym-based injuries — the two most common categories among London-based athletes.

Q: How do I book? A: The fastest way is via WhatsApp: wa.me/+447746252075. You can also book online at marquestherapy.com.

Stop Managing It. Fix It.

If you've been cycling through the same injury for the second, third, or fourth time — this is the appointment that ends the pattern.

Marques Therapy 88 Southwark Bridge Rd, London SE1 0EX 5 minutes from London Bridge and Borough stations | Near Borough Market Serving SE1, Bermondsey, Southwark, Waterloo, Elephant & Castle, and the City of London