Sports therapy is not physiotherapy. The principles and outcome are the same, but the approach is slightly different.
Sports therapy targets the active injured individual who cannot and will not stop exercising during their injury unless necessary.
Injuries are part of the game, but sometimes we can avoid them by just practicing our techniques.
Troy Vincent
WHAT SHOULD I EXPECT FROM A SPORTS THERAPIST?
A thorough consultation is essential in sports therapy. Accurate and intricate details, how, when and where are essential. Your therapist may take you through a biomechanical assessment before giving an opinion as finding the cause is a ‘priority’.
Minimal electrical equipment is used. Soft tissue work, various forms of exercise, breathing techniques and stretches are designed specifically for the athlete, sport or program.
WILL I HAVE TO STOP EXERCISING?
In most cases the therapist will ask you to remain active while injured. By giving specific advise on what can be done and what should be avoided.
Very often injuries occur due to overuse, faulty technique or equipment, heavy weights or lack of symmetry.
Your sports therapist should be able to put you on the right track.
HOW MANY SESSIONS?
What kind of injury is it? The amount of sessions depend on the injury, how long it’s been neglected, the type of injury and how your body responds to the treatment.
GENERAL ADVICE
– Never apply heat on an inflammation, ICE is better.
– If possible, avoid cortisone as a first choice unless absolutely necessary.
– Rest the injury the first 48 hours and resort to other forms of pain free exercise which will not aggravate the injured part.
– Get a weekly massage by a certified/qualified massage therapist.
– Contact your Doctor or therapist as soon as you can because early assessment and treatment means an early recovery.
Injury Prevention
Warm up
Stretching
Kenisio taping or bracing
Protective equipment
Correct mechanics
Appropriate surfaces
Appropriate training
Adequate recovery
Sports Psychology
Nutrition
An average session will be as follows: a consultation, followed by tests : visual, palpation and movement. If the therapist sees other structures involved in the injury s/he will take you through a biomechanical assessment (which is testing all the joints, all movements, sitting/standing/walking posture, alignment, muscles, fascia, tendons, small movements, large movements, flexibility & strength) and visceral interventions. If in doubt, the therapist may need to refer you to an orthopedic doctor or for an MRI for further diagnosis and elimination.
If the therapist is sure of the origin of the problem, s/he will break down each section of the body explaining what and where the issues are and how they can be reversed or treated.
Sessions can include one, or a combination of methods including if necessary ultra sound or laser to manage pain or reduce inflammations. Most therapists prefer waiting for the body to respond to it’s own natural chemical release.
When Rawya looks at an injury, she eliminates torn structures on a joint/cartilage level, excludes viscera (intestinal misalignment), tests for muscular and neural dysfunctions, then takes you through a biomechanical assessment to check which structures are working symmetrically and whether fascia vs viscera is involved in postural misalignment creating the injury.
Sessions with Rawya may include electrical therapy to reduce pain and inflammation (not excluding homeopathic remedies), soft tissue work (stripping of the muscles), myofascial work (working on the fascia), trigger points, visceral manipulation (working on the intestines if necessary), neural stretches, proprioception (balance), breathing, followed by exercise.
Some cases are very straight forward where the athlete/exercise enthusiast needs quick rehabilitation of simple exercises and stretches.
As Rawya has trained in many different modalities, she assesses the person as an individual and can work with her clients with many different exercise techniques from pilates to heavy weights depending on the person, their sport, their injury, their fitness level and their fitness/athletic goals.
Sports & Complementary Therapy 
I’ve just returned from a cutting edge shoulder course taught by Jean-Pierre Barall himself. The first day was a very frustrating yet exciting event. I lay on my bed staring at the ceiling wondering what the past 20 years in sports therapy meant to me. This course was not only cutting edge, but a completely new exploration of the shoulder and it’s anatomy at a level my hands had never been before. Everytime we practiced on each other, my mind would shift to ‘weight’ what kind of touch am I supposed to apply? Is it light like cranial? or heavy like deep tissue work? is it visceral? is it intention? Anatomy should be anatomy wherever you go, but the precision of this work was mind blowing and by the end of the course I can clearly say my hands knew what to do, even if my mind seemed to interfere with the work.
To sum it up in a few words. The shoulder course I just completed is applying visceral work to the shoulder joint. It’s about listening to the body and locating the precise point to work with an insertion point and muscle,artery, nerve and to release the related organ which not only is an organ in function but with the mind-body connection.
I feel very privileged and lucky to have had the chance to train with such a wonderful tutor and ‘brain’. I look forward to applying some or all of the techniques in shoulder related injuries : )