Here at ProActive Therapies we have two ‘Sports Rehabilitators’ – Heidi and Lynne . This may be a job title you’ve not heard before, we’re pretty rare around these parts!
Sports Rehabilitators are specialist musculoskeletal health care providers. All Sports Rehabilitators are trained to degree-level so you know you are getting a highly trained therapist. Now you know we are all graduates, I’ll abbreviate to GSR (Graduate Sports Rehabilitator!).
GSR’s assess, diagnose, treat and rehabilitate a wide range of musculoskeletal injuries. These are basically injuries to the bones or soft tissues (muscles, tendons, ligaments). We can work with sporting teams, professional athletes, the military or within the general public in private clinics.
Sports rehabilitators have a range of skills which they can use to help get you back to full fitness. These might include:
- Massage
- Electrotherapies (e.g. ultrasound)
- Taping
- Exercise prescription
At ProActive Therapies, our GSR’s commonly see a rage of injuries and conditions such as:
- Ligament sprains
- Muscle strains
- Cartilage injuries
- Lower back pain
- Neck and shoulder pain
- Headaches
- Plantar Fasciitis
- ‘Sciatica’
- ‘Shin splints’
- ‘Tennis and Golfer’s elbow’
- Repetitive strain injuries……..the list goes on!
All GSR’s are required to complete ‘continued professional development’ (CPD) once they graduate. Therapists can choose what kinds of courses or conferences they attend, podcasts they listen to, or reading they do to complete this. For example, Heidi has attended additional courses to train in Medical Acupuncture; Running injury assessment and Kinesio taping to name just a few.
The most common question GSR’s are asked is “what’s the difference between you and a Physio?” The answer is:
‘A Physiotherapist has a much wider area of training, which covers the musculoskeletal (msk) side, as well as areas such as respiratory, cardiology, neurology and paediatrics. Both are three-year degree courses, and as a GSR focuses purely on the msk side of things, they tend to have a deeper knowledge of this area than a Physio. That being said, Physio’s can go on to specialise in msk injuries and complete further training and gain more experience, so this is not always the case. It varies physio to physio.’
Sports Rehabilitators are governed by BASRaT, the British Association of Sports Rehabilitators and Trainers. In order to work within the UK, every GSR must be a member of BASRaT, which includes professional and public liability insurance cover.For more information on Sports Rehabilitation and BASRaT, please visit www.basrat.org