Sports injuries are often painful and can keep you away from playing the sport you love. When you’re recovering, a combination approach that includes physical therapy (PT), chiropractic care, and supportive therapies is often the best bet for quick healing. Thompson Healthcare & Sports Medicine provides multidisciplinary care and treatments for patients in New Jersey. Here, we explore how an effective sports rehabilitation plan can combine physical therapy, chiropractic care, and recovery therapies.
Key Takeaways
- For sports rehabilitation, combining physical therapy, chiropractic care, and recovery therapies can help provide faster healing and a better overall outcome.
- When returning to sports after an injury, patients must listen to their medical team’s guidance, transition back to activity slowly, and pay attention to warning signs like pain or stiffness.
- Thompson Healthcare & Sports Medicine provides multidisciplinary care for patients in New Jersey, including physical therapy, chiropractic care, and supportive therapies.
Why Do Sports Injuries Often Need More Than One Treatment Approach?
Some injuries can be resolved with a single treatment. However, when it comes to sports injuries, a combination treatment approach is often necessary. This is because they involve complex, related physical, biomechanical, and psychological factors that can’t be resolved by only addressing pain. Sports injuries require:
- Pain control
- Tissue recovery
- Improved strength
- Enhanced mobility
- Better movement quality
By combining various treatments, sports rehabilitation can help heal the tissue damage, correct movement imbalances, restore function, and prevent re-injury.
How Do PT, Chiropractic Care, and Recovery Therapies Work Together?
At Thompson Healthcare & Sports Medicine, we take a patient-centered, all-encompassing approach to care. Rather than providing a single treatment for sports injuries, we often use a multidisciplinary treatment plan that includes several specialties and treatments to provide patients with the best results. Options we use to treat sports injuries include:
Physical Therapy for Rehab Progression
Physical therapy is a standard part of any sports rehab plan. It involves targeted exercises and manual therapy that help:
- Improve flexibility
- Enhance mobility
- Build muscle strength
- Address movement imbalances
- Reduce reinjury risk
- Relieve pain
Chiropractic Care for Joint Function and Pain Relief
Chiropractic care involves spinal adjustments, soft tissue manipulation, and exercises to help relieve pain, improve joint function, and enhance overall well-being. It can also help speed up healing and prevent reinjury.
Supportive Therapies for Recovery and Reinjury Prevention
Other therapies are often used alongside PT and chiropractic care to help speed up recovery, prevent reinjury, and improve overall health. Some options we offer include:
- Active Release Techniques (ART), which consists of hands-on soft tissue therapy to treat problems of the muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia, and nerves
- Extracorporeal Pulse Activation Technology (EPAT), which uses shock waves to improve circulation in inflamed areas, stimulating the healing process
- NormaTec compression therapy, which involves compression sleeves and pulse technology that mobilize fluid and quicken recovery
- Rapid Release Technology, which uses vibrational waves to help break up knots, adhesions, and scar tissue
By integrating enhanced mobility from physical therapy, pain relief from chiropractic care, and quicker recovery from supportive therapies, patients get a more complete treatment plan that addresses several angles of a sports injury, rather than just one. This combination approach often provides better outcomes than any one treatment alone.
How Can I Return to Sports Safely After an Injury?
As patients undergo sports rehabilitation, it’s important to listen to your medical team, which will provide guidance on how and when you can begin sports participation. It generally includes:
- Prioritizing medical clearance
- Rebuilding symmetry between the injured side and the non-injured side
- Transitioning from mobility work to sports-specific drills slowly
- Beginning with light, non-contact training before competitive play
Patients should also heed warning signs of doing too much, too soon, such as pain that lasts longer than a few days, localized swelling and warmth, stiffening after rest, or reduced range of motion.
Get a Comprehensive Sports Rehab Plan Near You in New Jersey
If you’re dealing with a sports injury, turn to Thompson Healthcare & Sports Medicine for help. Our multidisciplinary care incorporates treatments from different areas, such as physical therapy, chiropractic care, and supportive therapies, to help you feel better and get back to sports. To schedule an appointment at one of our 10 locations throughout Ocean and Monmouth counties in New Jersey, contact us today.
Sports Injury Rehab FAQ
Can physical therapy and chiropractic care be combined for athletes?
Yes, physical therapy and chiropractic care can be combined for athletes, helping to improve mobility, build strength, reduce pain, and improve joint function.
What are supportive recovery therapies?
Supportive recovery therapies are treatments or techniques that are used alongside other treatments, like physical therapy, to speed up healing and improve overall health. They include things like massage, myofascial release, compression therapy, and more.
How long does sports injury rehab usually take?
It depends on several factors, including the patient’s overall health, the type of injury, and what the rehab plan consists of. However, an average timeline is generally between six and 12 weeks.
How does physical therapy help prevent another sports injury?
Physical therapy helps rebuild strength, stability, flexibility, balance, and safe movement patterns. At Thompson Healthcare & Sports Medicine, PT can also help athletes return to sports while reducing the risk of a second injury.
What happens at the first sports rehab appointment?
Your first visit typically includes a one-on-one evaluation, a review of your symptoms and goals, and a personalized treatment plan. Depending on your needs, your care may include physical therapy, chiropractic care, and supportive recovery therapies. When you come for your first visit, you’ll get a tour of our entire facility and learn about all the treatments and services offered.
