Why See a Physical Therapist After a Sports Injury

If you’ve ever been sidelined by a sports injury, you know how frustrating it can be. Many athletes assume they need to see a doctor first or wait for an MRI, but that delay could cost you valuable recovery time. But did you know you can come straight to a physical therapist for diagnosis to start your recovery and get back to your sport?

I’m Lauren Masi, a Doctor of Physical Therapy and Board Certified Orthopedic Clinical Specialist. I’m also an athletic trainer and the owner and clinical services director of Bay Area Physical Therapy and Lafayette Physical Therapy. Today, we’re going to talk about why you should see a physical therapist after a sports injury. 

Musculoskeletal Ultrasound (MSKUS) from a Physical Therapist Can Give You Answers Fast

I definitely know that the minute an athlete goes down on the field, the first thing they want to know is, “How bad is it and when can I get back out there?” As a physical therapist, I certainly empathize with wanting quick answers and getting you back to the top of your sport. 

One thing that we’re lucky enough to have here at Bay Area Physical Therapy is a musculoskeletal ultrasound. So as soon as you go down, or the next day, you can come in and we can take a peek at your joints. This will let us see how bad it is, and what kind of tissue damage we need to handle.

Are we seeing any ligament sprains or tears? Are we seeing any muscle injuries, contusions or swelling? These are important factors that would let us know where your specific injury is and the prognosis. We can try to give you answers as fast as possible; and oftentimes, we can get you in faster than and cheaper than an MRI. 

Physical Therapists Can Diagnose Pain That Only Happens with Movement

Also, when you’re an athlete, most of the pains that you have only happen when you move. One of the things that a musculoskeletal ultrasound can do is let me look at an area while you’re moving the affected joint. This is something that oftentimes is not possible in an MRI. 

Physical therapists can diagnose the pain and figure out how it affects your movements with the sports-specific activities that you need to do. Once we know what tissue is involved, we know the tissue healing timelines to say how long you have to rest or immobilize it.

We Can Treat Your Injury More Effectively After Diagnosis

Once we’ve done the diagnostic tests, we’ll be able to determine if we have to send you to a hospital to get splinted or casted, or if your injury is something that we can treat conservatively. We will also guide you to let you know when you can return to certain strengthening exercises.

As soon as we know what’s going on, we can treat that area more effectively, give you that prognosis and timeframe to help you on your way to healing and back out there to compete in your sport. 

Reach Out to Bay Area Physical Therapy for Fast Diagnosis and Treatment

If you’re recovering from a sports injury, or if you’d like a complimentary consultation, give us a call today. And for more information about how we can help you, check out some of our other blogs on:  using a Class four laser to help with pain and inflammation, our diagnostics tools, how we help with sports performance, and how to balance rest and exercise.