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10 Benefits of Sports Physical Therapy

by | Jun 10, 2022 | News

sports physical therapy

Sports physical therapy is often under utilized by athletes, whether it’s professional or just for exercise. When you’re active in sports, it’s important to take care of your body and listen to what it’s telling you. Ignoring pain and pushing past your limits is something you know you shouldn’t do – but it’s extremely common for athletes to do anyway. 

If you’re experiencing pain, facing an injury, or have hit a plateau in your performance, sports physical therapy can be the answer. It offers a few unique benefits to athletes. 

10 Benefits of Sports Physical Therapy

1. Treatment of Sports Injuries

This is the most common reason why people seek out physical therapy, so it makes sense to put it right at the top of the list. Sports physical therapy can help you recover from an injury and pave the way for correct healing to prevent future pain or damage. This includes treatments such as: 

  • Soft tissue and joint mobilization 
  • Therapeutic exercise 
  • Neuromuscular re-education 
  • Personal training 
  • Cupping therapy 
  • Dry needling 

And more! The benefit of working with a sports physical therapist is that they can assess your injury and recommend the specific treatments you need.

2. Prevent Future Sports Injuries

As we mentioned, many people seek out physical therapy after an injury, but it’s also highly useful as a preventative measure. Granted, injuries and unpredictable and you can’t stop everything – BUT you can address common causes for injuries in physical therapy to help avoid them.  

For example, if you’re a runner your physical therapist might create a plan that helps strengthen muscles to help support joints, which can help you avoid some common joint injuries.  

3. Immediate Pain Relief

When you’re experiencing pain, you need relief fast – especially if this pain is keeping you from participating in the sports you love. Sports physical therapy is designed to assess what’s causing your pain and providing immediate relief, without medication. But beyond just the immediate, you also have…

4. Long-term Pain Relief

There are ways to relieve pain in the short-term, but if you don’t identify and treat the underlying cause then you may still experience pain over time (or the pain may worsen). Another advantage of sports physical therapy is that it identifies the underlying causes of pain, to treat them over time and prevent pain from reoccurring as much as possible.

5. It’s an Alternative to Invasive Surgery

If left untreated for too long, injury and/or pain can escalate and eventually require surgery. Physical therapy is a key first step to treat conditions before they escalate. It can also be used to treat pain that is already severe – in some cases our patients think surgery is the only option but find that physical therapy helps them.

Sometimes surgery is necessary, but physical therapy is something to try before considering surgery.

6. Better Technique

One of the benefits of sports physical therapy over standard physical therapy is a sport therapists’ knowledge of athletics and important technique. They can help you align your body and provide technique training that’s aimed at improving your ability to perform.

➡ Read Now: Can Physical Therapy Really Improve Sports Performance? 

7. Cardio Fitness Benefits

Injury treatment and pain relief are the most well-known benefits of sports physical therapy, but it has benefits for your heart health as well. Most sports therapy programs include cardio exercises that help to improve your overall cardio fitness. With improved cardio fitness comes improved overall fitness.

8. Improved Neuromuscular Control

For athletes, coordinating your body in motion is absolutely critical. Another advantage of sports physical therapy is that it will help you become more aware of your body as well as more in control of it. Not only is this a benefit to sports, but it’s also a useful skill to hone in your day-to-day life as well.

9. Increase Strength

Your physical therapy routine will likely include exercises and treatments that aim at improving your overall strength. Your routine will begin at a lower level and over time increase in difficulty, which challenges your body and pushes it forward.

10. It’s Relaxing

One of the most often overlooked benefits of sports physical therapy is that it can be a relaxing experience! Often your routine will include soft tissue mobilization, breathing exercises, or other treatments to reduce stress. This has physical benefits as well, but it also provides mental benefits. A lot of our patients at PRO Therapy look forward to their physical therapy as a mental break and time to unwind some stress. 

Do you have any questions for our team at PRO Therapy? Are you hoping to avoid injury specific to a sport or in general? Are you currently dealing with an ache or pain and need help? Give us a call! We offer complimentary phone and in-person consultations, and aim to meet our patients wherever they are in their journey. If you need to answer any questions, we’ll be happy help, to ensure a smooth experience at PRO Therapy. We want to help you make the best decision for you!  


PRO Therapy is an Independently Owned Orthopedic Physical Therapy Clinic. At PRO Therapy, we treat back, knee, neck/shoulder, ankle/foot, and hip pain as well as sports injuries, surgery rehabilitation, and anything else that’s causing you pain. We want everyone to have exceptional care, better access to care and be able to complete the activities in life that make them happy – free from a life of painkillers, injections, or surgeries

Dr. Kevin Spahr

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Read our reviews from other people like you who came to see the physical therapy team – and left much healthier and happier.
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Based on 321 reviews
Alessia C.
I worked with Dr. Lily from January to July following a bad car accident and I can't recommend her enough!! From day one, she was incredibly friendly, supportive, and truly listened to what I was going through. She customized a workout and recovery plan that evolved with me every step of the way, making sure it suited my needs and progress.

She also introduced me to cupping and dry needling, both of which were completely new to me, and was extremely patient and reassuring, especially knowing I was nervous about needles. Thanks to her care and dedication, I’ve seen some improvement in my back, neck, and legs.

If you’re looking for someone who’s highly skilled, compassionate, and genuinely committed to helping you heal, Dr. Lily is the one to see! 🙂 Thank you!!
MaryAnn S
I have been a client of PRO Therapy since 2019 and each time I have received the best of care from the doctors I have seen. Every team member here cares about the individual and the best approach to healing. I try to deal with my pain issues with out drugs as much as possible and the care I receive from the therapists at PRO Therapy is the best. I highly recommend their services. Most recently I injured my right shoulder and arm from pulling weeds and waited too long to address the pain and limitations I was experiencing. The Stemwave non-invasive medical treatment that I have received in the past 3 weeks along with PT from one of the doctors has brought tremendous relief and is allowing me to get back to normal day to day activities. If you are looking for a clinic that treats you with respect and care as well as addressing your pain issues, don’t go any where else, PRO Therapy is your place!
Lindsay G.
My experience with Pro Therapy, and Dr. Lily Anderson was awesome. I had let my injury get to the point where it was disruptive not only to my training but daily life. Dr. Lily helped me set goals for each week, and I started to see improvement weekly! Now I have the tools and knowledge to maintain my recovery. So grateful for Dr. Lily and Pro Therapy.
Makenna S.
Dr. Lily was incredibly helpful in diagnosing and treating my knee pain! She was always so receptive to my feedback and incredibly accommodating to wherever I was at in my rehab journey. Her exercises and guidance have me pain-free after just a couple months, cannot recommend highly enough!
Sam H.
Lovely PTs! Easy to talk to professionals who know what they are doing and how to best help you. Scheduling appointments are very simple and they always send a reminder text the day before your appointment. Highly recommend!
N
Outstanding experience working with Dr Salfer and the Pro Therapy team. Helped me overcome a longstanding injury that blocked me from running. Am back to regular 5Ks for the first time in almost a decade and feel fantastic! Dr Salfer is great at what she does and is super patient to answer questions and provide instructions on how to do exercises. Front desk team also couldn’t be nicer. Thank you!
Arman M.
Great place to go for quality care. Kelvyn is an excellent PT and had an answer to all my questions.
Johnnell L.
I love this place let’s start off with there communication the best when it comes to that and I feel comfortable with the environment I’m around. I feel like there getting the job done
Andrew K.
ashley M.
I’ve been dealing with plantar fasciitis for years and I thought there was no going back from the pain I felt all day everyday. Pro therapy has truly been a game-changer. From the very first visit, with Brooke she made me feel heard, supported, and hopeful. She took the time to explain my condition, tailored a treatment plan specifically for me and listen to the feed back from each visit to see what the next best thing was. Pro therapy staff been incredibly encouraging every step of the way.

The care I’ve received has been top-notch — professional, compassionate, and effective. I can already feel a huge difference in my pain levels and mobility. I genuinely look forward to my appointments because of how much relief I’ve gotten in just a handful of visits.

I Highly recommend pro therapy to anyone dealing with plantar fasciitis. They truly care about your recovery and go above and beyond to help you heal.
All in all, I am beyond satisfied with the care I’ve received with pro therapy