What’s the difference between Athletic Therapy and Physiotherapy? - the question that’s asked at least once a day by clients, and one they’ve probably all thought about before they come to their first appointment with us. Between feedback from clients, personal past experiences, and seeing how different professions target injury and pain; I think I finally have an answer!
iT’S IN THE NAME!
Athletic Therapy - our training mainly focuses on injuries and pain in the athletic populations. As we move out of school and into real-world practice; the definition of ‘athlete’ is really quite different from person-to-person. Sometimes we will treat those high-performing collegiate athletes or ones performing on a national level, and sometimes we treat people with physically demanding jobs, new parents that are trying to keep up with their energetic kiddos, or our weekend warriors who are getting back into an old sport or even finding a new one after their 9-5’s. Each of these takes physical demand and are an activity in their own right.
Our root cause approach
Granted; athletic therapists aren’t exclusive to assessing and determining the root cause injuries - but it is our key focus when assessing and treating an injury!
Because of our training with athletes and active populations, we need to ensure that they not only can restore function and eliminate pain at the site of injury to get them back to daily activities, but we also need to make sure that their bodies can handle the demands of strenuous activities.
That’s like comparing getting someone to walk without pain after an injury to getting someone to run a marathon, play a game of hockey, climb endless floors of ladders during a work shift, or run around with your child in the park - without pain. The physical demands required to participate in your sport or activity are often far greater than those required for normal day-to-day tasks. Because of this, we need to ensure that what caused your pain to begin with is also addressed - not just working directly on the site of the injury or providing feel-good ‘bandaid approaches’ that will make you feel better until you put your body through more demanding actions.
It’s in our training
Our training specializes in musculoskeletal injuries - in term - injuries to muscles, joints, tendons, ligaments, bones, and nerves. With this specific window in our training - we are able to focus on, study, and put into practice the skills necessary to assess and treat these injuries over the span of our degree. Not one class. The ENTIRE DEGREE.
Where physiotherapy differs is its additional training in rehabilitating cardiorespiratory and neurological conditions; allowing them to practice in hospital settings - having a larger scope to conditions outside of physical injuries and pain.
Additionally, you may recognize the term ‘athletic therapy’ when you’ve watched your favourite sports team play and a player gets injured. Those guys running out to help? That’s us! But what does that mean?
That means we are trained medical first responders, equipped to respond to injuries and medical emergencies as soon as they happen. We can assess the athlete during the initial moments of their injury, guide their rehabilitation and prepare thier bodies to return to their sport seamlessly. Our model focuses on well rounded care, from the initial injury to the return to activity.
Our hands-on work
As Athletic Therapists, our approach to injury treatment and recovery is hands on, working directly with muscles, fascia, joints, and nerves to aid the body throughout the recovery process. With this, we can assess how tissues and joints move and respond to treatment while getting direct feedback on how the body reacts to different techniques.
(Don’t get us wrong - you will still have to help us out by following your personalized exercise program to maintain the progresss we achieve during the session)
But in the end, we are always working with you and your body throughout the recovery process. Rather than soley relying on machines for pain relief, we combine hands on treatment with movement and exercises to help ou get back to doing what you love!
At the end of the day, what path you choose to take for your own treatment comes down to your goals of activity! Do you have an upcoming championship game you want to be ready for? Do you need to be able to go for long hikes on your next vacation? Do you need to run around the backyard kicking a soccer ball with your child? That’s where we shine and we can help you get there!
Want to try Athletic Therapy for yourself? We offer FREE 30 minute sessions to show you what we can do for your pain!
