Conditions we commonly treat
- Ankle sprains and chronic ankle instability
- Hamstring, calf and groin strains
- Runner's knee and patellar tendinopathy
- Shoulder pain in overhead athletes
- Achilles tendinopathy
- Shin pain and bone stress injuries
- Return to sport testing after injury
How we treat it
Work out what actually failed
A hamstring strain, a nerve irritation and a referred pain from the back can all stop you sprinting. They need completely different management, so the diagnosis comes first.
Keep you training around the injury
Total rest is almost never the answer for an athlete. We modify the training rather than stopping it, so you keep fitness, strength and routine while the injured tissue recovers.
Rebuild capacity beyond daily life
Being pain free walking around is a low bar. Sport asks for speed, change of direction and repeated high loads, and the programme has to build to those specifically.
Test before you return, do not guess
We use objective criteria such as strength comparisons between sides and hop testing. Returning on feel alone is the most common reason people get injured a second time.
What your first appointment involves
- 1
History
What happened, what makes it better and worse, and what you need to get back to.
- 2
Examination
Movement testing and hands on assessment to identify which structure is producing your symptoms.
- 3
Explanation
A plain language account of what we found, including what it is not, which is often the more reassuring half.
- 4
A plan you start that day
Treatment in the session, plus the specific things to do before the next one.
When it is worth booking in
- Pain that comes on at a predictable point in training
- A joint that gives way, catches or locks
- The same injury has now happened more than once
- Swelling after activity that settles overnight
- You have stopped trusting the limb in competition
- Pain that has persisted beyond the expected healing time
How long does it usually take?
Typically 6 to 12 sessions, longer for tendon problems, which remodel slowly.
Common questions
- Should I stop training completely?
- Rarely. Most injuries do better with modified training than with rest. We work out what you can safely keep doing, which protects your fitness and your head.
- When can I go back to my sport?
- When you meet the criteria, not when the calendar says so. That usually means near symmetrical strength, controlled landing and change of direction without apprehension.
- Do you do taping and dry needling?
- Yes, where they help. Both are useful for short term symptom control, and neither replaces the loading work that produces the actual recovery.
Condition guides
What each problem is, what the evidence says about treating it, how we treat it here and how long it usually takes, with sources.
- Plantar FasciitisSharp heel pain with the first steps of the morning. A loading problem, not an inflamed one, and it responds to a specific programme rather than rest.
- Ankle SprainA tear of the ligaments on the outer side of the ankle, almost always from rolling the foot inwards. It heals well, but it is the injury most likely to come back, and rehabilitation rather than rest is what prevents that.
- Tennis ElbowPain on the outside of the elbow that bites when you grip or lift. A tendon that has been overloaded, not inflamed, and it recovers with graded loading rather than rest or injections.
Further reading
Book an appointment
Start with a sports injury physiotherapy assessment
Your first appointment is a full assessment: history, hands on examination and movement testing, followed by an explanation of what we found and the plan to fix it. You leave with something to do that day, not just a follow up booking.
Monday to Saturday: 8:00 am to 8:00 pmSunday: By appointment