Are you an athlete? Find out why you should visit a physio in Highett!

Over the years, I’ve been fortunate enough to meet some of Australia’s leading athletes.

Not only have I rubbed shoulders with some of the best in the world at their chosen sports – I’ve also been responsible for helping them perform at their best.

The opportunity to work alongside leading athletes is one of the highlights of my job as a physiotherapist. Physio for athletes is one of the challenging, intimidating – and ultimately, rewarding – parts of the job.

And it’s not just professional athletes who can benefit from it!

Physiotherapy for athletes: not just for the pros!

If you watched the tennis at any point during the last couple of weeks, you probably noticed physiotherapists coming out to help players deal with on-court injuries.

However, physiotherapy isn’t the sole domain of elite athletes.

The goal of physiotherapy is to help you perform at your optimum.

That doesn’t just mean helping you deal with injuries and pains – it also means finding ways to optimise your performance that allows you to compete at your best.

Whether you compete professionally or for leisure, physiotherapy can help you perform at your best if you want to compete for a long time yet.

 

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The journey continues. 2 men on different missions whose paths have had a surprising number of similarities. Few people have any idea what we’ve been through over the last 2 years. Both been homeless at times. Had to deal with setback after setback. Outside forces threatening our respective dreams after we’ve gone all in and put everything on the line. When you had injuries that threatened your ability to train we worked through them. And when I was in trouble and needed help to fight to keep my dream alive you were the only friend I could count on to help me. In fact, you dropped everything in an instant one afternoon to be by my side, even though you were in the middle of training for your first title fight – where a loss may have put your dream at risk. It’s an honour to have shared this journey with you on your way to realising your dream of fighting in the ufc. You’re an incredible fighter and a better human being. I wish you all the success you deserve in future. @jimmycrute

A post shared by Physio Australia (@physioaus) on Dec 2, 2018 at 11:59pm PST

What makes physiotherapy for athletes different?

In a single word, it’s proactive.

Sport pushes your body much harder than most other endeavours. While an office worker may also have need of a physiotherapist for their own unique musculoskeletal problems, they don’t push their body quite as hard as an athlete might.

On top of treating injuries and pain, physiotherapy for athletes is all about performance: as such, helping you compete at your best requires a different approach to regular physiotherapy.

Preventative physiotherapy for athletes

While most physios for athletes focus on helping you overcome sports-related injuries, that isn’t all your physio in Highett does for you.

Any athlete knows that improper technique and stiff, weak muscles are major hazards when it comes to sports injuries – there’s a reason so many musculoskeletal problems are named after certain sports (tennis elbow, anyone?)

As part of our unique AUS formula, we go beyond helping you cope with injury and pain. If you ask me, the real strength of a physio for athletes is preventative power.

Physiotherapy does this a couple of different ways.

One is by building strength in the parts of your body that your sport engages the most. Your physio prescribes exercises and routines that improve muscle flexibility and strength, insulating you against potential injuries.

Another is by improving your positioning and technique.

Both of these influence weight distribution, as well as how much force your body is subjected to when you compete.

By looking at the way you use your body while competing and by making adjustments to your posture and technique, your physiotherapist ensures you use the optimal technique that puts the least physical strain on your body. This can prevent many sports injuries from ever happening in the first place.

Say you’re a runner suffering from shin splints. For you, preventative physiotherapy might include:

• Strengthening your hip and leg muscles
• Analysing the way you run and the impact that has
• Making footwear recommendations

Physiotherapy for sports injuries

Do you:

• Suffer from lingering pain from a previous injury?
• Experience flare ups every time you swing the club or racquet?
• Feel sharp pains when you step up to the starting line?

Luckily for you, injury and pain doesn’t have to stop you from competing or enjoying your favourite sport… as long as you have a physiotherapist on your side, that is.

Treating musculoskeletal pain and injury is your physiotherapist’s bread-and-butter. So naturally, there’s no better person to call when you’re struck down by these conditions!

Physiotherapy helps by rehabilitating affected parts of your body. We focus on speeding up your recovery and returning affected muscles and joints to full, pain-free movement.

Our process starts with an in-depth, one-on-one breakthrough session. During this session, we take a look at your unique musculoskeletal pains and injuries to investigate and determine the root cause.

That’s because while your pain might be manifesting in one part if your body, there’s a chance it may actually be the result of issues in a completely different part of your body!

This is known as “referred pain”, and is a common problem athletes at all levels deal with.

If one part of your body (say, your hip) is injured or weak, other parts of your body have to compensate to make up for that. This can lead to overuse injuries manifesting in other parts of your body.

Need a physio in Highett?

Book a session with Physio AUS!

Whether you compete professionally or for leisure, if you’re serious about your performance and avoiding typical sports injuries, you’ll need a physiotherapist on your side.

And that’s where we come in.

The Physio AUS team offer more than just physio in Highett – our experienced practitioners are also superstars at preventative physiotherapy, giving you the tools you need to compete without needing to worry about sports injuries.

Using an in-depth initial diagnosis system and wide range of techniques and solutions tailored to your unique condition, we help you perform at your best.

Get in touch with a our team of physios in Highett today – call (03) 9525 6077, or click here to book an appointment online!