Sports Physiotherapy

If you’re into sport, then it’s usually a big part of your life. You don’t want to be forced to take a backseat by injury. That’s where sports physiotherapy comes in.

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The rewards and demands of sport

Engaging in your chosen sport has so many benefits, like improving your cardiovascular fitness, lung function, strength and stamina. It may also boost your mood, give you a sense of achievement and help you develop important characteristics like perseverance and resilience. And it helps you to maintain a healthy weight. 

But sport is physically demanding too. Those demands vary from one sport to another, with some sports requiring lots of sprinting or sudden turns while others demand more strength and power. Often those demands repeatedly strain a certain area of your body giving rise to injury nicknames like tennis elbow or runner’s knee.

What is sports physiotherapy? 

Sports physiotherapy is a specialty within physiotherapy with a particular focus on helping you maintain optimum health and wellbeing so you can enjoy your chosen sport. 

That may involve:

• Preventive exercise programs to get you into good condition for your sport by addressing identified areas of weakness, such as biomechanical imbalances or previous injury sites. 
• Rehabilitation treatment to help you manage and recover from an injury.

Professional sports teams usually have at least one sports physio who’s there to keep the team in peak condition to handle the demands of that particular sport. 

You don’t have to be an elite athlete to benefit from sports physiotherapy. It’s just as beneficial for people trying to get fitter, regular exercises and those who plan to compete in a fitness challenge they know will stretch them.  

How is sports physio different from regular physiotherapy? 

All physiotherapists complete the same initial education and training to treat a wide range of musculoskeletal disorders. 

That means a general physiotherapist is qualified and able to treat common sports injuries, taking your lifestyle and goals into account when developing a treatment plan. 

A sports physiotherapist has completed post-graduate training in sports and exercise physiotherapy, giving them a more in-depth understanding of the demands that a particular sport places on your body. Many sports injuries happen because of overuse, poor biomechanics or less-than-ideal conditioning.  

A sports physiotherapist can help you to:

• Prevent injuries
• Recover from injury
• Make a good return to your sport at the right time
• Reduce the risk of reinjury. 

What injuries can sports physiotherapy treat? 

Common sports injuries include:

• Muscle and tendon strains like a pulled hamstring, groin pain or an Achilles tendon strain
• Sprained ligaments, most commonly a twisted ankle 
• Knee injuries, like dislocations or ACL tears
• Fractured bones, like your wrist, hands, collarbone, arms or legs
• Back pain
• Concussion
• Plantar fasciitis
• Shin splints. 

Sports physiotherapy at Physionorth

Many of our physiotherapists are sporty types with experience in competitive gymnastics, dance and running to name just a few of our team’s interests. 

Some of our physiotherapists are qualified in sports and dance physiotherapy, enabling them to support you to perform at your best in your chosen sport whether you’re an elite or recreational athlete.

If you’re keen to up your game this year, then we encourage you to come and see our sports physios. We can prescribe a program of preventive exercises to improve your condition and reduce the risk of injury, meaning you can enjoy your sport rather than be forced to sit on the sidelines. If you’ve already experienced an injury, we can help you get back into shape, restart your sport at the right time and improve your condition to reduce the risk of reinjury.

Same day appointments – Book online HERE

or call us

07 4724 0768