Sports Physiotherapy

Sports physiotherapy helps people who want to return to function beyond day to day functioning.

It is a subspecialty of physiotherapy that helps people with pain and injury regardless of the level and age - you don’t have to be an elite athlete, or very good at the sport that you do!

I have been working as a sports physiotherapist for 14 years, helping athletes on every level to get back to function and performance.

I specialise in lower limb injuries, my clinical expertise is lower back, pelvis, hip and groin injury and pain.

In my clinic I work with patients after acute injuries, and those with a long standing and persistent pain.

I often see patients with complex problems and long term pain - learn more here - and the combination of my clinical expertise and research background allows me to design the management plan that works for them.

Acute injury management

Acute injuries stimulate some very powerful healing processes in our bodies. Sports physiotherapy helps to understand and harness these processes, not only to recover better, but also to decrease a risk of future injury.

It is always better to see a physio as soon as you can after injury or surgery - we can then design a management plan that will maximise the usage of all stages of healing process (learn more here), and we will do what is best to heal.

During the initial appointment we will assess the injury, diagnose what has been injured, what stage of healing we are in and whether there are any further injury or protective mechanisms happening in the body that need addressing. If you are after surgical procedure, we will assess how your body responded to it in the initial stage.

We will also talk about how much and where to deload - the site of injury will likely have to be given space and time to heal, in all, or some of the movement. But it is rarely a good idea to stop any exercise. In fact, movement and exercise will help to stimulate the healing response in the injured tissue.

We will design a short, medium and long term management plan, taking into account other areas of your life, such as planned holidays or your work.

During further appointments, we will keep monitoring your progress, and we will keep challenging your body in a progressive, but safe manner, leading you back to performance not only recovered, but stronger than before!

The acute injuries that I specialise in:

  • Pelvic traumatic injuries

  • Lower back acute strains

  • Hip strains

  • Groin strains and pulls

  • Adductor injuries

  • Twisted knee - ligament and meniscus tears

  • Ankle sprains

  • Post-surgery rehabilitation

Long term and persistent pain management

There are always a lot of factors associated with a long term pain - and it is important to understand not only what has been the source of pain, but what compensation strategies the body has developed, to fully recover and go back to full function.

Managing long term, persistent pain is a challenging experience - a lot of patients that I see in my clinic have already seen a number of healthcare professionals, but weren't able to recover fully. It can also be frustrating to tell the same story again.

But it is necessary - during our first appointment I will ask a lot of questions about the history of your pain, of your medical appointments, whether your condition changed over time and whether you have any associated symptoms. I will also ask about your general health, nutrition, physical activity - now and before the pain appeared, what are your beliefs about this pain, what are your hopes and goals.

We will talk about your past and current training load and volume, and specific exercises that you have done - in training and rehab. We will explore what other things you have tried to manage your condition. I will have a good look at w your body moves to understand how the pain presents, and whether there are any further compensations that it has developed overtime to deal with pain.

During this first appointment I want to learn who you are and what you are aiming for, to make sure that together we design a plan that is optimal for you - and allows you to go back to whatever you want to do.

Typically, I see my patients more often at the beginning of the treatment process to closely monitor the loading and progress, but the appointments get less and less frequent as time goes by. This is also because you will start getting more agency over your health and your body, and you will learn how to manage your loading, progress your exercises or make some activity decisions to move forward in treatment process - you will just not need me so much anymore!

The long term conditions that I specialise in include:

  • Lower back pain

  • Sacroiliac joint pain

  • Pelvis pain

  • Groin pain

  • Hip pain

  • Knee pain

  • Foot pain