What we are talking about
This is the area our physiotherapists work in most: thirteen of the twenty-two who work with us have specific training or experience in sport, between the pitch, the gym and post-injury rehabilitation.
Sports injuries have a logic of their own. Some come from trauma, but most come from a load error: too much, too soon, after too little. The classic is starting again in March at October's pace.
The phase most often skipped is the last one, where it no longer hurts but the sporting movement is not ready yet: speed, jumps, changes of direction, fatigue. That is where a return that lasts is built, and that is where nearly everyone stops following through.
When it makes sense to get seen
The most common reasons athletes write to us:
- You have been injured and do not know how to go back without getting hurt again
- A pain that always shows up at the same kilometre or the same set
- You stopped, started again, stopped again: the cycle repeats
- You want to prepare for a race and want to get there in one piece
- An asymmetry you can feel between one leg and the other
- You want to know whether what you are feeling is a signal to listen to or a niggle to work through
What can be done remotely, and what cannot
Here the format has a real advantage: we see you in your own setting and can follow the progression as often as it needs, which is frequently more than once a month.
What can be done remotely
- Analysing the training load and finding the error that produced the injury
- Programming the progression week by week, with clear criteria
- Watching you perform functional tests: jumps, single-leg landings, knee control
- Building the underlying strength and prevention work
- Deciding together when to raise the intensity and when to wait
What cannot
- Manual therapy, sports massage and soft-tissue work
- Taping and functional strapping applied by us
- Instrumented strength testing, isokinetics, high-speed video analysis
Acute trauma with major swelling, inability to bear weight or a suspected fracture goes to A&E. We come in afterwards, and stay until the return.
Frequently asked questions
When can I play again?
When you meet criteria, not when a period of time expires. Similar strength on both sides, control in jumping and changing direction, no reaction the next day. The calendar is a rough guide, the criteria are the decision.
Does stretching prevent injuries?
Far less than people believe. What moves the needle, in the available evidence, is strength work and controlling the weekly load. Stretching has other uses, but it is not the insurance policy we credit it with.
Can I train while I recover?
Almost always yes, by changing what. You keep everything that does not touch the injured area: it is the best way to avoid finding yourself, once healed, with a deconditioned body to get moving again.
Is pain during training always a stop signal?
No. There is a margin of acceptable pain, defined together and checked against the next day's reaction. What is not acceptable is pain that increases session after session.
