Having trouble walking on your ankle. Difficulty bending your knee. Trouble lifting your arm. These are all ways that various sports injuries can affect your ability to move.
Many people who enjoy participating in sports for recreation and fitness, but doing so does come with the risk of a sports injury. Athletes take precautions to avoid injuries, but sometimes they just happen. In fact, it’s reported that almost 9 million sports- and recreation-related injuries occur every year in the U.S. Physical therapy can help treat sports injuries for athletes of all levels.
How does physical therapy help treat sports injuries?
Most athletic injuries involve some form of damage to the musculoskeletal system. This includes your bones, muscles, ligaments, tendons and joints. Fortunately, our physical therapists specialize in treating musculoskeletal disorders.
Many physical therapy techniques focus on rebuilding the strength and flexibility of your muscles and ligaments so your body can support itself while it heals. These techniques also seek to improve function and reduce the severity of your pain.
In addition to these benefits, physical therapy-based sports injury treatment can:
- Restore range of motion — Physical therapy exercises and techniques can help you regain mobility that was lost due to your injury. This will help you maintain some level of activity during recovery and will help you perform after recovery as well.
- Restore balance — Your physical therapist will work with you to restore the balance that may have been lost due to the limitations of your injury. This can help you avoid falling during your recovery.
- Prevent surgery — Surgery is an invasive procedure that requires a longer period for recovery. Physical therapy may help you heal without having to rely on surgery. If you do have to have surgery, physical therapy can also assist in your post-surgical rehab.
- Reduce the need for pain medication — Some injuries require pain medication to reduce your pain. These often come with undesirable side effects. Physical therapy is intended to help you heal and manage your pain so that you don’t have to stay on pain medication.
Need sports injury treatment? Peak Performance is here to help
Are you an athlete who’s been injured and is ready to recover? Our Peak Performance team is ready to help you get the sports injury treatment you need. We’ll start by performing a free screening designed to reveal the specific effects of your injury. Next, our physical therapists will build you a personalized therapy plan to fit your recovery needs.
Not able to come into one of our therapy clinics? No worries! We offer virtual therapy that’s designed to help you get the therapy you need without leaving your home. Additionally, our therapy services can be used by patients without a doctor’s referral.
Take the next step to get our help with your sports injury recovery. Contact us today for more information about how we can help you or to schedule your initial appointment.
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