What Is a Physical Therapist’s Role in Sports Medicine?

Physical therapy has long been an important component in treating a wide range of injuries. It has been used to provide conservative treatment solutions that can potentially help avoid the need for surgery, and it is also a critical tool used to help patients regain full strength and range of motion after a surgical procedure. While physical therapy provides important benefits to individuals of all ages and activity levels, it is particularly effective as a complement to sports medicine treatments.

What Is Sports Medicine?

Sports medicine is a field that focuses on the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of injuries and conditions that occur from engaging in athletic activities. Sports medicine doctors work to achieve several goals:

• Help individuals optimize their physical performance in their favorite activities
• Treat sports injuries so that patients can regain their pre-injury form and continue participating in their favorite athletic activities at a high level

While sports medicine doctors work with professional and amateur athletes and are often employed by professional sports teams, you don’t have to be an athlete at the highest levels of competition to benefit from sports medicine. Many hobbyists and casual athletes who enjoy being active and exercising regularly work with sports medicine professionals to either optimize their performance or to recover from an injury.

How Does Physical Therapy Support Sports Medicine?

Because physical therapy plays a major role in helping individuals recover from injuries, it is a critical component of sports medicine treatment. Physical therapy focuses on helping individuals improve their strength and flexibility, making it an effective tool for preventing injuries as well as for recovering after a sports injury.

Physical therapists who work in sports medicine are more specialized than those who focus on assisting patients after surgery. Sports medicine physical therapists are specially trained to understand the nuances of active people and the sophisticated nature of sports injuries. These professionals not only work to help athletes and other active individuals heal after an injury, but they also educate patients on steps they can take to prevent re-injury. In many situations, these physical therapists also tailor their approach based on the specific athletic activities their patients participate in.

Physical Therapy for Injury Prevention and Performance Enhancement

Physical therapists who work in sports medicine perform important services that assist in injury prevention and performance enhancement. These treatments and services may include:

• Providing functional movement screenings to evaluate your strength levels and range of motion for specific muscle groups and joints used in your favorite athletic activities to identify opportunities for improvement
• Helping you strengthen your core or improve your cardiovascular capacity to perform at higher levels and avoid injury
• Recommending stretching exercises to help minimize the risk of injuries to your hamstrings, ligaments, tendons and soft tissues
• Hosting sports injury prevention classes and programs to help athletes prevent common injuries associated with their favorite sport
• Educating athletes on proper posture and body mechanics

Physical Therapy for Injury Rehabilitation

When a sports injury occurs, physical therapists often work closely with sports medicine doctors to help you make a full recovery. In some instances, this may involve initial treatment to strengthen an injured region in an attempt to avoid more serious and invasive surgical procedures. However, physical therapists also help patients with their rehab after a surgical procedure to restore full strength, function and range of motion.

Physical therapy is an important component to recovery after a wide range of sports injuries, including:

• Torn tendons and ligaments – Torn ligaments and tendons are common sports injuries and occur after sudden, sharp movements. Physical therapy can be used to help avoid surgery for partial tears, and it is also a critical component of rehab after surgery to repair full tears.
• Fractures – Broken bones are some of the most common sports injuries. If you’re required to spend extended periods of time in a cast or on crutches to heal after a fracture, physical therapy can help you strengthen weakened muscles once your cast is removed or you no longer need crutches.
• Repetitive motion sports injuries – Many sports require athletes to perform the same movement repeatedly. Over time, these repetitive movements can cause tendonitis to develop or joints to become stressed from overuse. Common repetitive motion sports injuries such as tennis elbow or a torn rotator cuff are often effectively treated with physical therapy.

Physical therapy for rehabilitation after an injury focuses on eliminating pain, healing the injured region, strengthening muscles that have become weak after the injury and restoring range of motion.

Colorado Advanced Orthopedics Can Help After a Sports Injury

At Colorado Advanced Orthopedics, we can help you get back to enjoying your favorite activities after a sports injury. Our board-certified, fellowship trained sports medicine doctors and orthopedic surgeons provide comprehensive treatments to address just about any sports injury. We can provide minimally invasive, nonsurgical solutions when appropriate, and we can also deliver exceptional surgical outcomes that surpass industry standards in the event that surgery is required.

You’ll also benefit from our in-house physical therapy team. Our physical therapists work closely with our doctors, ensuring that each member of your treatment team is aligned at every step of the process. This helps facilitate the best possible results with your rehab. In addition, our physical therapy team provides “in-services” for local athletic departments, community groups and coaching staffs to ensure these organizations have the important information necessary to optimize the performance of their athletes and minimize the risk of injury.

Contact us today to schedule an appointment. Colorado Advanced Orthopedics serves patients in Meeker and throughout the White River Valley.