By Morlu Bazzie
If you’ve never had a sports therapy appointment before, you might be wondering what happens when you book one.
You might be thinking, what are they going to ask me? Is it going to hurt? Am I going to get judged?
First of all, BREATHE. There’s nothing to be nervous about.
My aim is for you to feel comfortable from the minute you walk through the door. I’m not there to judge you. I’m there to listen, figure out what’s happening and help you get back to doing what you enjoy.
First things first: we talk.
Before I start poking, prodding and making you move about, we’re going to have a chat.
I’ll ask what’s brought you in, when it started and how it’s affecting you.
Some questions might seem random, but there’s usually a reason behind them. If you come to me saying, “My knee hurts,” I want to know what you’ve been doing an what might have led to it.
Don’t worry about giving me the right answer. Don’t feel like you need to lie about ANYTHING. Remember, we listen we do not judge. Tell me what you’ve noticed. That’s usually way more useful. The more information the better (however leave out what you had for lunch five weeks ago).
Then we assess what’s actually going on
Once I understand the problem, we’ll move on to the physical assessment.
This could involve checking your posture, movement, strength and range of motion, along with tests to help narrow down what could be contributing to the problem.
I’ll fully explain what I’m doing because I don’t want you thinking, “Why’s he making me do this?”
And no, I’m not trying to embarrass you because your hamstrings are tight.
You don’t need to be flexible, strong or in perfect shape. We work with where you are right now.
I’ll tell you what I think is going on.
After the assessment, I’ll talk you through what I’ve found.
I don’t want you leaving thinking, “Cool, he did loads of stuff, but I still don’t know what’s wrong with me.” I’ll explain what I think is contributing and what we can do about it, without unnecessary complicated terminology.
If you need further assessment from another healthcare professional, I’ll tell you. I’d rather be honest than pretend I know everything.
Then we get to treatment
Depending on what we find, we can get started with treatment. This could include massage, soft tissue work, mobility techniques or other hands-on treatment.
But I don’t want your whole appointment to be you lying on a bed. I also want you to understand why we’re doing it and what you can do.
You will get a few exercises between appointments, such as strengthening, mobility work or small changes to your training.
I’m not going to give you 15 million exercises just for the sake of it. I’d rather give you a few things that actually have a purpose and can show progression.
And I’m not just picking exercise you hate, every exercise has science and reasoning behind it.
So, what happens after?
Before you leave, we’ll go over what we’ve found, what you should be doing and what happens next.
Sometimes one appointment is enough; other times, we’ll need a few sessions to monitor your progress.
There’s no set formula because everyone is different.
And that’s one of the things I love about sports therapy. Every person has their own story and goals.
Whether you’re trying to get back to sport, smashing the gym, or simply want something to stop bothering you, I want to help you get back to doing what you enjoy.
So, if you’ve been putting off booking because you’re not sure what to expect, hopefully you’ve got a better idea now.
You don’t need to know exactly what’s wrong, and you don’t need to worry about being judged.
Just come as you are, tell me what’s going on, and we’ll work it out together.
If you’ve been dealing with pain, an injury or a persistent niggle and you’re not sure what to do next, I’d be happy to help. During your initial Sports Therapy consultation, I’ll take the time to listen, assess what may be contributing to the problem and create a plan tailored to you and the activities you want to return to.