What is a Sports Rehabilitation Therapist?
A sports rehabilitation therapist is a professional that helps people of all age groups prevent and recover from pains and sports injuries using specific stretches, exercise, and other manual therapeutic interventions to maintain health and fitness.
How Can a Sports Rehabilitation Therapist Help You?
When you consult a sports rehabilitation therapist as regards a sports injury, the first step of your treatment process will involve a physical assessment and proper diagnosis of your injury. The therapist also diagnoses the predisposing factors to injury and other possible health-related disorder.
After diagnosis, the sports rehabilitation therapist would devise a recovery plan to help you get back to optimum function and physical activity. Usually, a clinical reasoning procedure is used your sports rehabilitator can integrate advice, education, and rehabilitation to better all aspect of your life.
What Other Aspects are Included in the Treatment?
The sports rehabilitation therapist uses evidence-based therapeutic interventions and exercises to treat injuries and pains of the musculoskeletal system.
So some measures that can be included in your treatment include:
- Manual therapy
- Exercise rehabilitation
- Graded activity
- Electrotherapy
- Massage
- Workplace assessment
- Taping/bracing
The sports rehabilitator assesses the whole needs of the patient and uses a complete approach to ensure optimal recovery. This makes the patient have a treatment plan that is centered to meet their specific needs.
What Makes Sports Rehabilitators Stand Out?
Sports rehabilitation therapists are different from other sports therapists because they focus largely on biomechanics, exercise rehabilitation, and helping patients return to their high level of performance. This specialised skill is why BASRaT registrants are first considered by the Ministry of Defence for exercise rehabilitation duties that are most demanding.
What is the Range of Injuries Handled by a Sports Rehabilitation Therapist?
There are many sports injuries that can be treated by sports rehabilitator. Their major service covers:
- Sprains and pains in knees, ankles, hip, and shoulder groin, etc.
- Back pain- sciatica, lower back pain, disc problems.
- Chronic pain
- Crucial ligament rehabilitation
- Total knee replacement rehabilitation
- Arthritis
- Tennis elbow
- Bursitis
- Carpal tunnel syndrome
- Achilles Tendinopathy
- Post spinal surgery
- Post-trauma, including fractures
- Post-operative rehabilitation- shoulder, knee, and spinal surgery
- Cruciate ligament rehabilitation
- Repetitive strain injuries
What are the Risks Associated With the Treatment?
There are no spectacular risks involved in sports rehabilitation therapy. Just like any other therapy or exercise program, you could experience some soreness after the treatment but is short-lasting and is usually mild.
Your sport rehabilitation therapists would always inform you about the risks associated with any treatment so you can make informed choices. More so, your sports rehabilitator is trained to reassess and modify the effect of a treatment based on your reaction to it. If there is a need to refer you to other members of the healthcare team, they are also trained to do that appropriately.
Sometimes, treatments like taping, manual therapy, and massage mediums produce skin reactions in patients, but your sports rehabilitation therapist will assess and modify their treatments accordingly.
However, most treatment of sports injuries by sport rehabilitation therapists has been a success and many patients have recorded a life-changing difference after the treatment.
Registration as a Sports Rehabilitation Therapist
Before a sports rehabilitation therapist can be qualified as highly knowledgeable and experienced, accepted onto the BASRaT register, he or she must have:
- Completed an accredited BSc honors or Masters degree monitored by BASRaT
- Completed a minimum of 400 hours of supervised clinical work
- Continue a rigorous process of professional development which is audited by BASRaT
BASRaT Register
The BASRaT register is a platform accredited by the professional standard authority (PSA) - the UK’s top medical regulator. All sports rehabilitators on the BASRaT register are required to adhere to the strict code of ethics, conduct, and professional practice. Members have a current first aid qualification, comprehensive insurance and follow regulated standards for managing medical records and appropriate referrals to other health care team members.
The Research Base for Sports Rehabilitation Practice
The Sports Rehabilitation practice relies on scientific findings from several hundred thousand research papers spanning the disciplines of biomechanics, physiology, medicine, pathology, physiology, rehabilitation, sports science, and other related health professions.
Therefore all BASRaT registrants are mandated to complete continued professional development activities in order to stay updated on new techniques, practices, research, and information.
