Sports Medicine vs. Physical Therapy: What’s Best For You?

Physical therapy dates back to the world wars in the 1st part of the 20th century. Today, a U.S.-based individual membership professional organization represents over 100,000 physical therapists, physical therapist assistants, and students of physical therapy.

If you’re active in sports then you might wonder whether choose between sports medicine vs physical therapy. This article will go over the 2, and when to choose one over the other. Read on to explore this guide on these 2 to ensure that you receive the right treatment for your needs today.

Sports Physical Therapy

This is a professional who helps you with treatment in order to prevent an injury. They can also help you with rehabilitation to get you back to your sports. You’ll want to find physical therapists such as Performaxphysicaltherapyandwellness.com that offer sports treatment.

Tendon Repair

One of the surgeries that a sports medicine specialist will do is tendon repair surgery. This is where your torn or damaged tendons will be fixed.

Sports Medicine

When doing a comparison of sports medicine and physical therapy, it’s important to understand that sports medicine is for doctors who receive extra training in this specialty. They’re ready to help you with different injuries from sports that you might be facing.

This is when you suffer from a post-concussion, ACL tear, or other sports injuries. There are many joint injuries they treat as well.

The Difference Between Sports Medicine and Physical Therapy

Physical therapists can help people of varying ages with a range of injuries and symptoms. While a sports medicine doctor provides care to a sports team, athlete, or another active individual.

Sports medicine doctors focus on prescribing medication, ordering tests, and referring patients to physical therapists. A physical therapist helps treat bone injuries and muscles with non-invasive techniques.

They’ll work with you over time. The treatment plan you receive will be tailored to your needs. Once they teach you different moves, they’ll ensure that you can perform them on your own.

Injury Screening

Physical therapists help out with injury screenings. If you have pain that doesn’t go away, they can perform these screenings. They’ll take a look at your body movement, pain, and mobility.

Manual Therapy

Physical therapists use passive and skilled movements on soft tissue and joints in order to improve tissue extensibility and improve your range of motion. They can also help to reduce soft tissue swelling as well. This can also lead to an increase in relaxation.

Which Should I Choose?

If you’re looking for a non-surgical approach, head to a physical therapist. For surgery, head to a sports medicine physician.

Choosing Between Sports Medicine vs Physical Therapy

Now that you’ve explored this guide on sports medicine vs physical therapy, you should have a better idea of which is right for you. Would you like to read more informative content plus tips and tricks?

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