What comes to mind when you think of “Physical Therapy?” Maybe you picture a room full of bands, small dumbbells, and exercise balls that patients use to perform exercises. Or maybe a machine hooked up to your back sending electrical impulses to your muscles. How many times have you watched a professional sporting event and seen kinesiotape or cupping marks on an athlete’s shoulder?
Physical therapy isn’t just one of these images. There are physical therapists who work in hospitals, while others work in skilled nursing homes with elderly patients. Some only perform manual therapies, such as massage or joint manipulations, while others never touch patients and only prescribe exercises. Any and all of these would be considered “physical therapy” in the same way that “medicine” may include medications, procedures, and surgeries. So what exactly is “physical therapy” and why should you choose a Sports Physical Therapist?
Physical Therapy Defined
Short answer: Physical therapy is the practice of guiding a person back to full function after an injury via exercises, activity modification, pain and swelling reduction strategies, and by providing encouragement and support.
Long answer: Physical therapy as roots all the way back to Ancient Greece, but modern physical therapy started after World War I to rehabilitate injured solders coming home from the war. It became commonplace in hospitals, and then around the 1950s, outpatient orthopedic clinics that addressed injuries of the muscles, bones and joints were established. Physical therapy practice historically has had elements of massage, manual therapies, hydrotherapy, and exercise. But PT is still not any one of these- at its core, physical therapy is a process. This process involves:
1) Identifying the impairments that are contributing to symptoms.
→Physical therapists look at what’s driving your symptoms. In acute injuries, this could be the injury itself or side effects of surgery or immobilization (e.g., ankle stiffness after a fracture). In chronic pain, strength deficits, movement patterns, or nervous system sensitivity may play a role. However, not everyone will have clear deficits: sometimes the body is just “protecting” a painful area.
2) Making a preliminary plan to address contributing factors
→ Once impairments are identified, a plan that includes a mix of restorative and compensatory interventions is made.
Restorative strategies: Rebuild strength, range of motion, or function through exercises, stretching, or sport-specific drills.
Compensatory strategies: Temporary modifications to protect the area while staying active (e.g., lighter weights, avoiding hills while running, or non-contact practice drills).
3) Making adjustments to the plan based on the person’s response
→This is arguably the most important part of the process. Some exercises may initially increase pain, while others may be too easy or too hard. A PT monitors your progress and adapts your program by progressing, scaling back, or trying new strategies as needed. If your exercises haven’t changed in two months, something isn’t working.
4) Utilizing adjunct interventions such as electrical stimulation, heat, cold, massage, joint mobilizations, or traction to support the core treatment plan (optional).
→Techniques like ice, heat, massage, electrical stimulation, or joint mobilizations may support your recovery. These are optional and secondary as high-quality PT focuses on active strategies that restore function, but can be handy tools to facilitate the big picture plan.
What isn’t Physical Therapy?
Pain is often blamed on things like flat feet, hips being “out of alignment” and poor posture. However, these principles have been called into question over the past few years as some studies find inconclusive relationships between our body structure and pain. 1,2,3 Ultimately, pain is more complex than simply “fixing” the “broken” part. Pain can persist even after injuries heal, and in conditions like fibromyalgia, there is no single known structure to take blame. While that may sound discouraging, it can be freeing to realize there isn’t one “right” way to recover. So physical therapy isn’t about fixing you, it’s about understanding your unique story, tailoring treatment to your needs and goals, and adapting along the way so that recovery is possible in more than one form.
Sports Physical Therapy
Sports physical therapy is a specialty within physical therapy focused on athletes and highly active individuals. Sports physical therapists often have backgrounds in athletics, advanced knowledge in strength and conditioning, and additional training in the management of sports injuries. Some earn Board Certification as Sports Clinical Specialists (SCS), demonstrating mastery through rigorous requirements and examination. All, however, complete the same foundational education and licensure as other physical therapists.
Many outpatient orthopedic clinics advertise “sports physical therapy” simply because they treat common sports-related injuries or see active patients. While many of these more general outpatient orthopedic clinics do a great job with their athletic patients, they may not be equipped to deal with more complex presentations, surgical conditions with long recovery times, or higher level athletes. What distinguishes a true sports specialist is not only advanced education and experience with athletes, but also the ability to understand the demands of sport and guide recovery through a structured, individualized process, rather than relying on generic exercises or trendy modalities.
Tying it all together: Why chose a Sports Physical Therapist?
The bottom line: you don’t necessarily need a sports physical therapist to reach your goals and recover. Many general physical therapists do a great job with athletes, and those patients often have good outcomes. However, you may want to choose a sports physical therapist if any of these apply to you:
- You have tried working in a generic PT clinic before without success
- You want a more comprehensive evaluation of your training, workout programming, injury history, specific impairments, and consideration for your personal preferences
- You want objective data and advanced metrics to help guide your plan of care and track your progress
- You want someone with advanced knowledge in sports, athletic development, and sports injuries
- You want to learn a process to self-manage your condition
- You want someone who is as passionate about sports as you are
Conclusion
Physical therapy plays an important role in injury recovery. But ultimately, it is YOU, the patient, who does has the most important role in injury recovery. You are the one performing your routine day in and day out, dealing with set backs and pain, and preserving despite the trials that can come with being injured. A PT is there to give you guidance, make and adjust a plan, track your progress, and be your #1 cheerleader as you progress. If you are ready to start your rally, book a session today and take control of your comeback.
References:
- Kardm SM, Alanazi ZA, Aldugman TAS, Reddy RS, Gautam AP. Prevalence and functional impact of flexible flatfoot in school-aged children: a cross-sectional clinical and postural assessment. J Orthop Surg Res. 2025;20(1):783. Published 2025 Aug 21. doi:10.1186/s13018-025-06207-y
- “Sit Up Straight”: Time to Re-evaluate-Diane Slater, Vasileios Korakakis, Peter O’Sullivan, David Nolan, and Kieran O’SullivanJournal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy 2019 49:8, 562-564
- Yu, Q., Huang, H., Zhang, Z. et al. The association between pelvic asymmetry and non-specific chronic low back pain as assessed by the global postural system. BMC Musculoskelet Disord 21, 596 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12891-020-03617-3
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