Sports Injury Physiotherapy in Adelaide

The question after a sports injury is rarely just "what is it". It is "when can I play again, and what happens if I go back too early". Those are different questions and the second one is the expensive one to get wrong.

We assess and treat sporting injuries and take them through to return to play — not to the point where it stops hurting, which is usually several weeks before the tissue is ready for the thing that injured it.

Injuries we see most

• Ankle sprains, including the recurring ones that never quite settled the first time
• Hamstring, calf and quadriceps strains
• Knee injuries — ligament, meniscus, patellofemoral pain, jumper's knee
• Shoulder injuries from throwing, swimming and overhead sport
• Groin and hip pain in kicking and change-of-direction sports
• Achilles and shin pain in runners
• Lower back pain in rowers, cricketers and gym lifters

Getting the diagnosis right first

A calf strain and a referred pain from the lower back can feel similar to the person carrying them and need entirely different treatment. So can a groin strain and a hip joint problem. The assessment exists to separate those, and to identify what made you vulnerable — a training load that jumped, a movement pattern, a previous injury that never fully rehabilitated.

Where imaging or a medical opinion is needed, we will say so and write to your GP. Most sports injuries do not need a scan; the ones that do, need it promptly.

Return to play, properly

Feeling fine is not a criterion. Returning to sport should be based on what you can actually do — full range, strength compared with the other side, the ability to hop, cut, sprint and land without compensating — tested rather than assumed.

The most common reason for a repeat injury is returning on symptoms rather than on capacity. Getting through that last stage properly is unglamorous, and it is the part that decides whether you are back for the season or back in six weeks' time.

What treatment involves

Hands-on treatment to restore movement and settle pain, progressive loading to rebuild the tissue's tolerance, and sport-specific work to bridge the gap between the clinic and the field. We also use dry needling and shockwave therapy where they fit the problem, and hydrotherapy when land-based loading is not yet tolerated.

Evening appointments are available, which matters when training and work take the daylight hours.

Common questions