What Is Sports Therapy?
Sports Therapy is the diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of sport related injuries. Think of a physiotherapist but more specialised in sports injuries. The common misconception is that we only treat athletes, however we can treat any injury problem sports related or not. Our expertise is just more focussed around the sporting population. Normally Sports Therapists study for 3 years at University meaning they have extensive knowledge on the human body and its anatomy. Sports Therapists can work in a variety of environments such as the NHS, Sports Teams, Private practices and Gyms.
What Injuries Do We Treat?
There are a huge number of injury problems that can be treated. It is important that as soon as you feel something isn’t right you get the injury assessed by a professional. The longer you leave these problems the more difficult it is to treat and the longer you will need to have treatment for.
List of problems Sports Therapy can treat:
- Muscular strains
- Ligament Sprains
- Back & Neck Pain
- Hip & Knee Pain
- Shoulder Injuries such as Rotator Cuff tears
- Plantar Fasciitis
- Runners Knee
- ITB Syndrome
- Muscular Weakness and Imbalances
What Treatments are there?
The treatment you receive is very dependent on the injury you have. This is to ensure the treatment you receive is specific to you and your problem. Normally appointments last between 30mins – 1 hour.
- Massage Therapy – This is a hands on treatment completed primarily for muscular issues such as pain, tightness and soreness. Massage Therapy helps to increase blood flow, break down scar tissue and loosen off tight muscles. The physical pressure applied by the therapist enables they benefits to happen. Normally at the start of the treatment plan your sessions will be more frequent to ensure quick and effective results.
- Joint Mobilisations – Once again this is a hands on therapy performed by your therapist. Focussed on the specific joint itself the Sports Therapist will perform small controlled movements to restore normal joint range of movement and functionality. Often you will find joints feel stiff and locked. This will help to reduces those symptoms and get the joint moving more effectively.
- Acupuncture – This treatment involves using precise needle/acupuncture points to stimulate a desired response from your body. Acupuncture is very effective at stimulating blood flow to a targeted area and can be used to focus on specific knots in the tissue. You will also experience a reduction in pain around the injured site.
- Exercise Rehabilitation – Exercise is extremely important for providing long lasting results. When a tissue is injured it is important you strengthen around the injured site. This helps to prevent a “weak point” and will correct any underlying muscular imbalances. This is best completed in a 1 to 1 setting based within a gym environment. This ensures all the exercises you complete are performed correctly and you master the technique.
How To Find A Good Sports Therapist?
- You should always look at firstly the experience of the Therapist. What clinics have they worked in? Do they specialise in your injury?
- Call the practice/therapist and have a chat with them about your current injury. You can then see what approach they will follow and if that matches with what you want.
- Check Facebook/Google reviews. This is a fantastic way of seeing how good their service is and if anyone with similar problems has had good results.
This Article was written by the Sports Therapists at Fit2Function. The team at Fit2Function are leading experts in lower back pain and sports injuries and are verified by Doctify.
To find out more about Fit2Function, the services they provide and how to book a consultation head to their website www.fit2functionclinic.co.uk or follow them on Facebook @Fit2FunctionClinics