Sports medicine experts in the know

With a range of different sports medicine experts available, let’s take a closer look on what services are on offer from physiotherapists, myotherapists and exercise physiologists.

Physiotherapists

Physiotherapy is a drug-free therapy and some techniques employed include soft tissue massage, joint mobilization, manipulation, exercise and stretches, traction, ergonomic advice, remedial exercises, postural assessment, correction advice and laser, ultrasound, electrotherapy and heat treatment.

Myotherapists

Myofascial trigger points (MTPs), or “knots” as they are often referred to, are not only capable of causing local pain but they also commonly refer pain to distant areas and as a result, are often overlooked. Myotherapists are trained to recognise the symptoms of MTPs and also in the latest methods of deactivating them which relieves pain and returns muscle to normal function. Types of conditions treated include neck pain and stiffness, headache/migraine, back pain/sciatic pain, tennis elbow, tendonitis, leg pain and sports injury.

Exercise Physiologists

Many people believe the role an EP can play is only in helping athletes achieve their peak, or rehabilitate from injury. But EP also work with individuals in the community to help them initiate an exercise program and ensure it is safe for them to begin a program. In both situations the exercise physiologist will help to identify strengths and weaknesses that an individual has in response to various fitness tests, and then design an appropriate exercise program to work on these weaknesses.

For athletes this will help improve performance and for the general public, improve health and quality of life. Assessment procedures conducted by an exercise physiologist are used to determine an individual’s aerobic fitness, lung function, and heart function, through an ECG which monitors the electrical activity of the heart — commonly known as a stress test — used to determine if there is any presence of cardiovascular disease and what level of exercise training is safe and effective.