Sports Physical Therapists Near Me

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FAQs:

What is Sports Physical Therapy?

Sports physical therapy is a type of physical therapy that helps athletes recover from injuries and get back to their sport. It uses many methods as regular physical therapy but focuses on sport-specific injuries, such as sprains and strains.

Sports PT can benefit injured athletes because it improves mobility and reduces pain while helping you get back into shape more quickly so you can return to competition safely. If you are a serious athlete, getting the proper treatment and rehabilitation is essential to avoid chronic injuries and continue competing at a high level. A sports physical therapist can help you with a variety of issues, including:

1. Injury prevention and rehabilitation from injuries

2. Improving your strength and endurance, flexibility, balance, and coordination

3. Treating agility and performance problems such as muscle tightness or weakness

4. Working to prevent and treat sports injuries

5. Guiding nutrition and hydration when training for a specific sport

Sports physical therapy can accommodate your needs as an athlete while still providing you with adequate pain relief. This kind of treatment typically involves treating any injuries that may have occurred on the field or court and addressing common overuse injuries like shin splints and a runner’s knee (patellofemoral syndrome).

This therapy focuses on reducing inflammation to prevent further damage from occurring after an injury so that full recovery can occur as quickly as possible without causing other harm or setbacks along the way!

What Does a Sports Physical Therapist Do?

A sports physical therapist is a highly trained and licensed medical practitioner who cares for patients after a sports-related injury. These professionals rehabilitate athletes by providing treatment and evaluation as patients complete healing exercises or therapies designed to increase mobility and strengthen injured areas of the body.

A sports physical therapist may complete any of the following tasks in their daily work:

1. Evaluate patients to determine the severity of an athletic injury.

2. Identify physical limitations in a patient's range of motion, balance, and coordination.

3. Plan the best course of treatment to help an athlete recover as quickly and safely as possible after an athletic-related injury.

4. Lead patients through exercises to increase coordination, agility, and strength.

5. Use treatment products and medical rehabilitation tools like a goniometer which measures joint angles to complete patient rehabilitation.

6. Complete therapeutic treatments such as electrical stimulation or massage on affected areas.

7. Encourage and coach athletes to work toward healing by relearning certain processes and activities.

Why Choose A Sports Physical Therapist?

Choosing a sports physical therapist is a great choice for active individuals who are looking to increase their performance and reach their full potential. Whether you’re an ambitious amateur or professional athlete, our physical therapists can help you maximize the effectiveness of your training while avoiding the risks of injury. Sports-specific physical therapists understand how the body works in athletes, and they are well-equipped to develop tailored rehabilitation plans that target any performance issues or injuries. We strive to optimize each individual's health and fitness by providing them with personalized advice and services.

Why is Sports PT Important?

Regular exercises can help athletes to revitalize their bodies and keep them fit. Physical therapy in sports also helps maintain muscle strength, flexibility, balance, and posture, all of which are geared toward achieving optimal performance.

Why Should You Do Sports Medicine Physical Therapy?

If you are an athlete or an active individual who is looking to treat or prevent a sports-related condition, this type of PT may be appropriate. Sports medicine physical therapy focuses on addressing any deficits that are keeping you from performing at your highest level and on creating an individualized exercise plan that meets the demands of your sport. 

What is the Difference Between a Physical Therapist and Sports Physical Therapist?

The difference between a physical therapist and a sports physical therapist is the level of specialized training sports therapists complete. A sports physical therapist must first train and earn a license as a physical therapist. After earning a graduate degree and a license as a physical therapist, a sports physical therapist must complete additional certifications and work in the field of sports medicine before earning the right to practice sports physical therapy on their own. Although both physical and sports therapists work to rehabilitate patients after an injury, a sports physical therapist focuses on helping an athlete regain the ability to play and compete. Sports physical therapists address the swelling of joints, muscle strength, and range of motion as they relate to a patient's athletic talents.

How Sports Physical Therapy Can Help You Recover from an Injury?

Sports physical therapy is a great way to recover from an injury and get back into the physical shape you need to do the things you love. Physical therapy helps you regain your physical abilities that have been affected by pain or injury. Through customized physical therapy sessions, a physical therapist can help treat sciatica, improve mobility, and increase strength.

In addition to helping rebuild physical function, physical therapists may also teach you techniques for avoiding future injuries. For example, physical therapy for sciatica would include decompression of the spine, nerve mobilization, core and hip strengthening, and stretching into specific directions to reduce the pain down into the leg.

Additionally, physical therapists not only work on restoring functionality but also resetting mental attitudes and helping to reduce pain if any is present. They are there as a supportive team member, providing comprehensive one-on-one care! Sports physical therapy can help get you back in action quicker than ever before!

How Will I Benefit From Working With a Sports PT?

1. Overcoming injuries. Sports physical therapy treatments are some of the best ways to overcome an injury and find relief for your pain. Each treatment is designed specifically to the needs of each individual and the condition of their injury, consisting of exercises and strength-building activities that are unique to their recovery.

2. Refocusing strengths. A sports physical therapist can help you focus on improving your strength in areas that you may not have considered. Many parts of the body influence each other, and strengthening one can help with the function of another. Rather than jumping directly into a new form of activity, it makes sense to train your body to react to the new form of stimulation by improving your muscular strength and range of motion.

3. Developing healthy habits. While a sports physical therapist can help you reach physical goals, they can also help you work on general wellness goals, as well. For example, regular exercise, a healthy diet, and a strong focus on hydration are fundamental in improving your physical fitness level. A sports physical therapist is a great resource to have when focusing on increasing strength and muscular functionality, as they can help you improve in all aspects of health and wellness.

What Do Sports Physical Therapists Do in Designing Rehabilitation Therapy?

Sports physical therapists assess and diagnose injuries, design treatment plans, implement therapeutic exercises, and monitor patients’ progress. They also play a crucial role in injury prevention through education and guidance on proper warm-up, protective gear, and injury prevention strategies.

When to Seek Treatment and Advice from a Sports Physical Therapist?

Professional and emerging athletes should seek treatment and advice from a sports physical therapist when they have:

1. A Limited Ability To Participate In Sports

Numerous times athletes wait too long to get the advice of a sports physical therapist. The athlete is injured while playing until they realize the pain is not going away on its own. Then they take roughly 2-3 weeks off from their sport only to try and return at the same pre-injury level. However, the pain never goes away if they do nothing during rest. Getting the advice of a sports physical therapist can help them return to the sport with a remarkable ability to participate.

2. Early Sports Injury Treatment

The best advice is to consult with a sports physical therapist when you start having symptoms that last for a longer period than a few days or when the symptoms influence your ability to participate or train at your desired level. Acute and mild symptoms of pain or tightness are much easier to fix than chronic conditions.

3. Sports Injury Prevention

Prevention is preventing new injuries and a return of an old injury. Knowing the proper mechanics or movements and loading the correct tissue or unloading the opposite tissue is huge in keeping athletes participating in their sport. Sports physical therapy is paramount, so athletes train properly to maximize performance and minimize injury.

What’s a Sports Physical Therapist?

Sports physical therapists treat a wide range of people. Some will be involved in professional sports teams while others in injury clinics, and they treat people with not only musculoskeletal conditions but also sporting injuries.

The Three Phases in Sports Medicine Physical Therapy

Frequently, sports medicine physical therapy is broken down into three specific phases:

Phase one: This is the most important after an injury and centers around reducing any pain, inflammation, or swelling that is present. During this time, soft tissue massage and icing may be beneficial. Modalities that provide compression and help to decrease your pain may also be utilized. In addition, gentle stretching and mobility techniques focused on restoring your range of motion and light muscle activation exercises are also frequently performed.

Phase two: This next portion of rehab is typically centered on building strength and improving your overall balance. Individuals who are looking to prevent an injury rather than treat one may actually start in this phase. Depending on your specific diagnosis, your therapist will teach you how to progressively load the affected area with strength-training exercises. They can also customize an exercise program that provides support to the injured region. In addition, proprioceptive training is typically initiated in an effort to improve your balance and stability in anticipation of your return to higher-level sporting activities.

Phase three: In the final phase of rehabilitation, sport-specific drills and exercises are introduced. During this stage, your therapist will typically pay close attention to your mechanics while you replicate some of the movements needed in your specific sport. They can also help you improve your overall endurance and may create a customized return-to-sport schedule based on your individual circumstances. At the very end of PT, you are typically cleared to return to your desired activity and given a home exercise program to continue with.

Conditions that Sports Physical Therapy Treat

You may benefit from orthopedic and sports physical therapy if you experience 

1. Back pain and headaches 

2. Foot & ankle pain

3. Ligament sprains & muscle strains

4. Fractures & joint dislocations

5. Rotator cuff & shoulder injuries

6. Tendonitis & bursitis

7. Osteoarthritis

You may be referred to a sports physical therapist if you are an athlete or live an active lifestyle.

Customized Goals of Therapy for an Athlete

The goal is to help athletes recover from sports-related injuries, enhance performance, and prevent future injuries. Here is how sports rehabilitation works:

1. Individualized Assessment: Begin by conducting a thorough assessment of your condition and specific sports-related injury. Experienced therapists evaluate your range of motion, strength, flexibility, and functional abilities to understand the extent of the injury and its impact on your performance.

2. Customized Treatment Plans: Based on the assessment results, therapists create personalized treatment plans tailored to your specific needs and goals. They utilize evidence-based techniques and exercises to optimize your recovery process and improve your overall performance.

3. Injury Rehabilitation: They provide targeted rehabilitation programs designed to address the unique demands of your sport and the specific injury you have sustained. Therapists employ a combination of manual therapies, therapeutic exercises, and modalities to accelerate healing, restore function, and prevent further damage.

4. Strength and Conditioning: They focus on strengthening and conditioning the injured area, as well as the surrounding muscles and joints, to enhance stability, endurance, and overall athletic performance. Through progressive exercises and specialized training, they help you regain strength, power, and agility.

5. Sport-Specific Training: They understand that each sport has its own set of demands and movements. They incorporate sport-specific exercises and drills into your rehabilitation program to improve sport-specific skills, technique, and performance. This targeted training ensures a smooth transition back to your sport and reduces the risk of re-injury.

6. Functional Movement Analysis: They analyze your movement patterns and biomechanics to identify any imbalances, weaknesses, or faulty movement patterns that may contribute to injury or hinder performance. Corrective exercises and movement retraining, help you develop efficient movement patterns and prevent future injuries.

7. Education and Injury Prevention: They believe in empowering athletes with knowledge and skills to prevent future injuries. They provide education on proper warm-up and cool-down techniques, injury prevention strategies, and sport-specific conditioning exercises to help you stay healthy and perform at your best.

8. Collaborative Approach: They work closely with sports medicine physicians, coaches, and trainers to ensure a collaborative and integrated approach to your sports rehabilitation. By coordinating care and sharing information, they optimize your recovery and facilitate a seamless transition back to your sport.

10 Benefits of Sports Physical Therapy

If you’re experiencing pain, facing an injury, or have hit a plateau in your performance, sports physical therapy can be the answer. It offers a few unique benefits to athletes.

1. Treatment of Sports Injuries

This is the most common reason why people seek out physical therapy, so it makes sense to put it right at the top of the list. Sports physical therapy can help you recover from an injury and pave the way for correct healing to prevent future pain or damage.

2. Prevent Future Sports Injuries

As we mentioned, many people seek out physical therapy after an injury, but it’s also highly useful as a preventative measure. Granted, injuries and unpredictable and you can’t stop everything – BUT you can address common causes for injuries in physical therapy to help avoid them. 

3. Immediate Pain Relief

When you’re experiencing pain, you need relief fast – especially if this pain is keeping you from participating in the sports you love. Sports physical therapy is designed to assess what’s causing your pain and provide immediate relief, without medication. But beyond just the immediate, you also have…

4. Long-term Pain Relief

There are ways to relieve pain in the short term, but if you don’t identify and treat the underlying cause then you may still experience pain over time (or the pain may worsen). Another advantage of sports physical therapy is that it identifies the underlying causes of pain, treats them over time, and prevents pain from reoccurring as much as possible.

5. It’s an Alternative to Invasive Surgery

If left untreated for too long, injury and/or pain can escalate and eventually require surgery. Physical therapy is a key first step to treating conditions before they escalate. It can also be used to treat pain that is already severe – in some cases, our patients think surgery is the only option but find that physical therapy helps them.

6. Better Technique

One of the benefits of sports physical therapy over standard physical therapy is a sports therapist’s knowledge of athletics and important technique. They can help you align your body and provide technical training that’s aimed at improving your ability to perform.

7. Cardio Fitness Benefits

Injury treatment and pain relief are the most well-known benefits of sports physical therapy, but it has benefits for your heart health as well. Most sports therapy programs include cardio exercises that help to improve your overall cardio fitness. With improved cardio fitness comes improved overall fitness.

8. Improved Neuromuscular Control

For athletes, coordinating your body in motion is absolutely critical. Another advantage of sports physical therapy is that it will help you become more aware of your body as well as more in control of it. Not only is this a benefit to sports, but it’s also a useful skill to hone in your day-to-day life as well.

9. Increase Strength

Your physical therapy routine will likely include exercises and treatments that aim at improving your overall strength. Your routine will begin at a lower level and over time increase in difficulty, which challenges your body and pushes it forward.

10. It’s Relaxing

One of the most often overlooked benefits of sports physical therapy is that it can be a relaxing experience! Often your routine will include soft tissue mobilization, breathing exercises, or other treatments to reduce stress. This has physical benefits as well, but it also provides mental benefits. A lot of our patients at PRO Therapy look forward to their physical therapy as a mental break and time to unwind from some stress.

Areas a Sports Physical Therapist Can Help Athletes In

1. Improved Range Of Motion

In live athletics, the joints are taken to the edge of the tissue’s strength. That’s where injured tissues can give out and be injured or torn. When an athlete must go back to a sport, a sports physical therapist must take their patients to the edge of tissue overload to prepare their tissue for live athletics. Physical therapists should push an athlete’s joints to their very end and ensure no pain, laxity, resistance, or apprehension, which assists in improving an athlete’s range of motion.

2. Neuromuscular Control

Coordinating the different body parts to work together is the job of a sports physical therapist. In neuromuscular coordination, the focus is on the movements of the joints by the tendons, muscles, and nerves. By focusing on these body parts, the injured athlete prepares to return to sports by boosting movement speed during exercises and progressively increasing weight.

3. Technique

Many non-sports physical therapists underestimate the importance of ensuring athletes know how to position or move their bodies to finish an exercise or task. But small details about positioning and technique could help an athlete align their body correctly to load proper tissue (tendons, bone, muscles), unload the wrong tissue, conserve energy, and enhance movement performance and efficiency. Sports physical therapists begin technique training for specific exercises starting on day one and stay focused on technique throughout all stages and levels of the ARC Progression.

4. Muscle Balancing

Athletes usually move in all directions to perfect their sport and play at a high level. That could lead to repetitive training. When this happens, emphasized muscles could be overworked compared to their counterpart, becoming the dominant muscle group. Aside from sport-specific training, athletes must train muscle groups to balance the load on tendons and joints and create synergy in the body to avoid injury and return to live athletics.

5. Power, Strength, And Speed

Depending on an athlete’s sport, many different strength, power, and speed combinations can be required. To maximize muscular size and strength (hypertrophy), athletes must load their muscles with heavier weights, increase their sets and decrease the repetitions per set. Many patients perform three sets of 10 with weights that aren’t challenging enough to generate true muscular strength. The maximum power is the ability to move weight over a certain distance in the quickest possible time. Athletes must be challenged to work as quickly as possible against resistance to build their power. Speed is your ability to move the body (or some parts) as quickly as possible. Most sports need the ability to move quickly, and each patient needs individual exercises to coordinate body parts with a stable platform that generates speed.

6. Joint Torque

Rotational load at high velocity is significant for return to almost any sport. Generating and controlling this rotational force over body parts and joints is one of the main focuses of sports physical therapy that would benefit athletes. This includes functional exercise progression and manual therapy, beginning with single-plane movements and progressing to multi-plan and multi-joint motions.

7. Prepare Athlete For Coaching

The athlete should return to practice and coaching when sports physical therapy is almost complete. This crossover of live athletics and sports therapy enables the athlete to ensure they can return to their sport without any new symptoms. Working out the last areas of tightness or pain will ensure a safe return to coaches who expect to get an athlete ready to perform at their best.

What to Expect from a Sports Physical Therapist

Evaluation / Assessment

A physical therapy evaluation is an assessment that physical therapists use to evaluate a patient’s current condition, examine any past medical history related to their injury or illness, and determine the best course of treatment. During the evaluation, the therapist will assess the range of motion, posture, and how the body moves in relation to specific tasks. They may also observe how a person stands, walks, or performs certain activities.

Your physical therapist will ask you specific questions about your injury or condition, as well as any pain you have and limitations at home or during sports activities. They will also talk to you about your prior performance levels and goals for therapy.

​As part of the full examination, the therapist typically evaluates your range of motion, strength, and (if possible) your mechanics while performing sports-specific movements such as running, jumping, or changing direction rapidly. A selection of specialized tests may be carried out to help the physical therapist pinpoint an accurate diagnosis.

​Evaluations are an important part of our work at physical therapy centers as it helps us determine what type of treatments are best suited to help a patient heal and improve their overall functioning.

​Treatment

Phase 1: During the first phase of post-injury recovery, it is essential to address any pain, inflammation, or swelling present. Soft tissue massage and icing can help reduce these symptoms, while compression modalities can be utilized to further minimize pain. Additionally, gentle stretching and mobility exercises that focus on restoring range of motion are also often used, in addition to light muscle activation exercises.

​Phase 2: During phase two of rehabilitation, the focus is usually on increasing strength, range of motion, flexibility, and balance. Those looking to prevent an injury rather than treat one may begin at this stage. Depending on your diagnosis, your therapist will show you how to gradually involve the affected area in strength training exercises. They can also develop an exercise plan that provides support to the injured area. Furthermore, proprioceptive training is typically initiated as a means of boosting balance and stability before returning to more intense sporting activities.

​Phase 3: The last phase of rehabilitation involves introducing sport-specific drills and exercises.  This is also the phase in which we help you develop a plan to address the root causes of your initial injury that are inhibiting your performance. We want you not only back in the gym, but at a higher level than ever before! At this stage, your therapist will typically examine your mechanics while performing the movements required for your particular sport. They can also assist you in developing endurance and creating an appropriate return-to-sport schedule depending on your individual circumstances. Ultimately, you are usually cleared to resume the desired activity with a home exercise program to continue with afterward.

​Home Exercise Program

A physical therapy home exercise program is a personalized plan of therapeutic exercises that are tailored to your individual needs. These exercises are meant to be done at home and can be used to facilitate progress between visits to the physical therapy clinic. The goal of these programs is to help you stay active, reduce pain, build strength and endurance, improve balance and coordination, and promote overall wellness. Depending on your unique needs, an individualized plan may include stretching, strengthening workouts, or balance activities. The therapist will provide detailed instructions on how each exercise should be completed, including sets, repetitions, and duration.

How to Find a Good Sports Physical Therapist

Finding a good sports physical therapist can seem intimidating, but with a little bit of research and effort, you'll be able to find the perfect one for your needs. The easiest way to start is by simply Googling "physical therapist near me" - not only will this give you good results from local professionals, but some even provide their testimonies and reviews from past patients so you can feel more confident in your decision. 

From there, look over what sports each physical therapist deals with and whether they have any experience with specific injuries. Additionally, take into account their certifications and if they specialize in any particular areas of sports medicine. Above all else though - make sure you are comfortable with the physical therapist so that you can stay relaxed throughout the treatment plan!

Sources:

Foothills Sports Medicine

Indeed

Pro Therapy

HIDEF

ISMI

Very Well Health

Yellow Brick

Precision Sports

Theradynamics

Austin Manual Therapy

Kettering Health

 

The content herein is provided for general informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Medical information changes constantly, and therefore the content on this website should not be assumed to be current, complete or exhaustive. Always seek the advice of your doctor before starting or changing treatment. If you think you may have a medical emergency, please call your doctor or 9-1-1 (in the United States) immediately.