IRM Digest

Sports Therapy or Physiotherapy?

08 Feb 20

A recurring question I get with new clients and friends is “What is a Sports Therapist?”. It’s amusing thinking about it because during my 1st year of studies my answer to this question tended to be along the lines of “I’m like a physiotherapist..”. As you read on you’ll see that old statement of mine holds some truth but be aware that although Physiotherapy and Sports Therapy share similar aspects, they also have characteristics that distinguish them as independent professions. I’m not going to be stating that one is better than the other I just believe that as paying clients you should know the differences for your specific case. So let’s start with the definitions.

Sports Therapy - “Is an aspect of healthcare that takes specific interest in the prevention of an injury and the rehabilitation of the patient back to their optimum level of function/occupation.”

Physiotherapy: “Is an aspect of healthcare to help restore movement and function when someone is affected by injury, illness or disability.”

Both definitions have been plucked from each of the governing societies (see links below) and without any other context you would think both sports therapists and physiotherapist are pretty much the same thing. You aren’t wrong, there is a definite overlap in function.

Ok so the major difference between the two professions is the title they hold. The SST (Society of Sports Therapists) are strict in this stating that as a sports therapist I cannot classify myself as a ‘physio’, a ‘physiotherapist’ or a ‘physical therapist’ (American qualification). I absolutely agree, learning different modules, having different parameters to the types of client and the conditions I practise on, so it makes sense that we have separate titles. Otherwise it could get rather confusing and who wants that! Now for the most part physiotherapists are more medical than sports therapists. What I mean is most of their training and the modules they are taught cover care for individuals that are recovering from life threatening conditions, such as strokes & heart attacks and/or post-operative procedures. This explains why you find them in the NHS. But that doesn’t mean a sports therapist can’t help you once you’ve been discharged from hospital and you need guidance for the next step to reaching your goals.

The spectrum of expertise that a member of the SST, like myself, possess fall under what we classify as the 5 pillars of competency:

Each pillar has been bullet pointed by the SST on their website so to save you searching and me writing it in my own words, here it is! We as Sports Therapists:

• Utilise sports and exercise principles to optimise performance, preparation and injury prevention programmes
• Provide the immediate care of injuries and basic life support in a recreational, training, occupational & competitive environment
• Assess, treat, rehabilitate and, where and if appropriate, refer on for specialist advice and intervention.
• Provide appropriate soft tissue interventions in a sport & exercise context
• Plan and implement appropriate rehabilitation and return to training/work programmes

I’m sure you can see that if you are seeking a therapist to assist you with an injury then either a sports therapist or a physiotherapist can help you. So who should you choose? To be honest, it does not make a difference. The main thing is that you find a therapist you can establish a good rapport with and ultimately achieve the desired results you want.

If you want to get in touch about an acute injury you’ve sustained recently, a chronic injury that has persisted for too long now or you just want some advice/guidance please email at info@injuryrehabmentor.co.uk and I’ll see what I can do for you!