Physical Therapy in Modern Sports

Physical therapy is a field of health care with the objective of physically treating a condition in order to help people realize their full potential. Professionals in this area are known as physical therapists, or physiotherapists, and they diagnose and treat diseases and injuries that limit a person's ability to move and carry out daily activities. The roots of this discipline go back to the year 460 BC, when physicians like Hippocrates and Galenus are thought to have administered physical therapy to patients, including massages, manual therapy and hydrotherapy. A physical therapist may specialize in one of many particular areas, some of which are cardiovascular and pulmonary, geriatric, integumentary, neurological, orthopedic, vestibular and pediatric. In today's world, however, sports are one of the fields where physical therapy is of great importance.

Sports have almost always existed, with both their benefits (exercise, health) and their disadvantages (injuries). However, in the last 20 to 30 years, professional sports have become a very lucrative business as well, thanks to figures like Michael Jordan, but most recently due to athletes like Kobe Bryant, Tiger Woods and others. In terms of ticket sales, merchandise and endorsement, these individuals turn profits in excess of millions of dollars. Therefore the need to also have well trained professionals in the area of physical therapy on the payroll, in order to keep these sportspersons healthy, and should they suffer an injury, have them brought back to activity in the least amount of time possible.

Sportsmen have a higher risk of becoming injured than regular folks do, but then again, they also are in better shape. However, they would never be able to return to active competition without the help of a physical therapist. A physiotherapist can assess each case individually and isolate the exact part of the body that needs rehabilitation, as well as coming up with the best suited treatment.