What’s The Difference Between a Traditional Physiotherapy Clinic and a Sports Injury Clinic?

Injuries, be they sports related or not, often require some form of therapy for recovery. Many injured athletes turn to physiotherapy, leading people to wonder what the difference is between a traditional physiotherapy clinic and a sports injury clinic, and which one is better for them. 

Physiotherapy is a form of medical treatment that helps people whose injuries or illnesses have impacted their ability to perform daily activities or decreased their ability to move. Often involving a comprehensive process of assessment and treatment in an out-patient setting like an actual physiotherapy clinic, physiotherapy helps restore movement and comfort. The services offered at a traditional physiotherapy clinic help people of all ages with injuries caused by a variety of scenarios.

So how is a sports injury clinic different from a physiotherapy clinic? Although a sports injury clinic uses physiotherapy to heal, the prime difference is that it often – although not exclusively – caters specifically to the treatment and prevention of sports related injuries. Because of their successful work with athletes, sports injury clinics have gained a reputation for being well versed in treating sports related injuries, as well as other common ailments, like osteoarthritis and tendonitis (both of which frequently occur in athletes and non-athletes). 

Both traditional physiotherapy clinics and sports injury clinics each usually have a team of professionally trained medical experts.  This roster includes a physiotherapist, medical doctor, and occupational therapist, each of whom is trained to apply various methods of treatment to injuries. Each is also trained to help prevent further damage to existing injuries while preventing future injuries.  This philosophy is invaluable to maintaining an individual’s pursuit of peak performance.

A sports injury clinic should also provide access to other trained professionals like dieticians, who would create personalized plans for maintaining a healthy weight, or orthopaedists, to deal with bone and joint injuries.

So why should an athlete choose a sports injury clinic over a physiotherapy clinic? The value of a sports injury clinic is the professional medical team it offers in a sports-specific setting.  A sports injury clinic has worked so extensively with sports related injuries, it can offer the support, education, and rehabilitation required to get you back into peak physical shape.  Ultimately, that’s the goal of a sports related lifestyle!

A sports injury clinic is dedicated to training and conditioning that enhances peak performance. Physical strength training that caters to both prevention and recovery is a big part of sports injury therapy. For example, a running injury clinic (a very common and specialized kind of sports injury clinic) may use physiotherapy techniques to help a patient with a running injury, and also mix specific methods of exercise to not only help to heal the injury, but also prevent future injuries, often by tweaking the runner’s technique.  Protecting your body from injury is every bit as important – if not more important - as treating an existing injury.

For further details on the differences between a traditional physiotherapy clinic and a sports injury clinic, or to find out why a sports injury clinic may be better for you, contact Athletic Edge Sports Medicine by calling 416 800 0800, or visit www.aesm.ca