Our Patient Services — Athletic Therapy
Human kinetics -- bodies in motion -- healthy bodies. Athletic therapists work to put you back on your feet in record time. The motto of our national association is “Rapid Return to Work and Play.”
What is Athletic Therapy?
Athletic therapists specialize in the prevention, assessment, immediate care, and rehabilitation of musculoskeletal injuries, those of the bones, joints and surrounding soft tissues of the skeleton. As highly trained professional members of the health care team, we apply our expertise to help each client fulfill his or her physical potential, on the fields of play, at work and at home.
We assess human physical function and treat dysfunction with its roots in injury or pain. As skilled practitioners of the science of human movement and performance, we bring particular expertise to sport medicine and care of the active person, whether that be the recreational athlete, the weekend warrior, the professional or competitive amateur athlete, or someone who enjoys an active lifestyle. That same expertise makes us just as valuable in improving the well-being and proficiency of members of the workforce or those injured at work, at home, or in a motor vehicle accident, for example.
How Can We Help?
Athletic therapists are trained in the active prevention of injury. We help clients to achieve and maintain health and optimal performance using skills such as musculoskeletal and postural assessment, education, strength and conditioning programs, equipment selection and fitting and supportive taping, among others.
If an injury has occurred, we believe immediate assessment and treatment have a significant positive impact on the healing process. Athletic therapists are specifically trained in the initial assessment and first aid of acute injuries, including head trauma and spinal injuries. In the clinic, we assess conditions resulting from injury and chronic conditions, arrive at a differential diagnosis and design and oversee therapeutic programs.
During your first visit we will interview you about your medical history, what you perceive to be the problem and what your treatment goals are. After arriving at a therapeutic assessment of the injury, we will take the time to explain the clinical diagnosis and how we arrived at it. Depending on your needs and desires, our treatment goal might be helping you to achieve and maintain independence, teaching you how to avoid dysfunction, or safe reintegration into an active lifestyle. We will demonstrate, observe and, if necessary, modify the exercises and techniques we prescribe. |
Therapeutic Tools of the Athletic Therapist
Athletic therapists use contemporary rehabilitation and reconditioning techniques, including:
- hands-on manual therapy
- soft-tissue stretches
- ultrasound
- interferential current electrical therapy
- electrical muscle stimulation for strength improvement
- TENS (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation)
- LED infra-red light therapy
- laser therapy for musculoskeletal conditions and injuries
- moist heat and cold packs
- bracing selection
- conditioning and strength training.
Our Education
Canadian athletic therapists are university-trained professionals. Our studies include biology, human physiology and anatomy, biomechanics, trauma and life support, nutrition, physical activity and aging and therapeutic exercise rehabilitation, among many others.
After successful completion of university coursework leading to a bachelor degree in an accredited program and 1200 hours of supervised practical experience, we must satisfy the stringent requirements of the Canadian Athletic Therapists Association to become a certified athletic therapist. Certification requires successful completion of a comprehensive written exam and a practical exam covering all aspects of the scope of practice of athletic therapy.
As we practice our profession, we must earn continuing education credits, maintain Health Care Provider CPR and First Aid certification and retain our status with the national and provincial athletic therapy governing bodies.
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