What is Sports Therapy? What does a Sports Therapist do...

Whats is Sports Therapy?

At the clinic we get asked this question a lot!

This post has been written to help clear up some of the popular  misconceptions about our profession.

Confusion! 

There is a huge amount of confusion surrounding the title 'Sports Therapist' and what we are qualified and insured to do!

This is no surprise and the confusion occurs for a number of reasons. Firstly, we will often be referred to or thought of as being a 'Physio'. This is understandable as our work and many of our treatment methods are very similar to those of a sports or musculoskeletal physiotherapist. The problem with this is that 'Physiotherapy' is a protected title and a separate occupation altogether.

It is, in fact, a criminal offence to use the title 'Physiotherapist' if you have not qualified through a Physiotherapy programme and are not registered with the Health and Care Professionals Council (HCPC). This is why, if you ask us if we are a 'physio', you'll often get an answer along the lines of "No, we're Sports Therapists" This may seem somewhat petty to correct people, but it is important for us to make sure we are not misrepresenting ourselves. Much like you would not expect us to claim to be a Medical Doctor (MD), again this would be a criminal offence.

A second point of confusion is that, at present, the term 'Sports Therapist' can be used by any practitioner, regardless of whether the individual has undertaken a 3 (or 4) year full time university degree or just attended a few weekend courses. This means that there are huge differences in the quality of Sports Therapists who practice privately. Unfortunately this also means that the responsibility falls upon the individual seeking treatment from a Sports Therapist to practice due diligence and research the qualifications of their chosen Sports Therapist.

What qualifications can you expect at The Ringwood Clinic?

Sara and I (Alex) are both fully insured members of the Society of Sports Therapists (SST) which requires members to have completed a minimum 3 year degree programme (or equivalent). As a requirement of our membership we must keep up yearly continued professional development (CPD) training, maintain an up to date first aid qualification and hold professional indemnity insurance.

Who can a Sports Therapist help?

This is a quote that comes directly from the Society of Sports Therapists webpage entitled "What is sports therapy?"...

"Sports Therapy is an aspect of healthcare that is specifically concerned with the prevention of injury and the rehabilitation of the patient back to optimum levels of functional, occupational and sports specific fitness, regardless of age and ability.

It utilises the principles of sport and exercise sciences incorporating physiological and pathological processes to prepare the participant for training, competition and where applicable, work."  

There are a couple of points that are worth highlighting from the statement above. The statement points out that Sports Therapists work with people of all demographics "regardless of age and ability". The 'sport' part of Sports Therapy title often leads people to think that we can only work with sports people or athletes but this is far from the case. We are able to treat people with issues that have stemmed from their everyday activities such as their work as well as sports related injuries. Our website's home page has a list of problems we can help with which include injuries brought on from everyday activities.

Misconceptions and treatment methods

One significant misconception of Sports Therapists is that the only treatment method we are trained to use is Sports Massage. This is certainly one significant treatment modality we make use of, however we are trained to use a number of other assessment and treatment methods. These include:

• Joint mobilisations 
• Strapping and taping techniques
• Stretching techniques (Passive stretching, PNF / MET's etc)
• Exercise prescription 
• Electrotherapy (Therapeutic ultrasound / TENS)
• Biomechanics assessment and training
• Postural advice
• Gait analysis
• Proprioceptive/balance training
• Pitch side first aid

Often a combination of the above methods and techniques are required to gain optimal resolution of a particular problem or injury.

In summary

Not all Sports Therapists will have the same level of training, so it is important to make sure that you have fully  researched  the level of training your sports therapist has undergone. Finally, an appropriately trained Sports Therapist will also have the knowledge and experience to refer you to another practitioner if the 'problem' is outside their own professional remit.

Below are two documents published by the Society of Sports Therapists that set out our baseline standards:

Standard of Proficiency (SST) - publicly available document
Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics (SST) - publicly available document