An athletic therapist specializes in the treatment, rehabilitation, prevention and emergency care of orthopaedic sports injuries. An athletic therapist works in both the clinical and field setting. 

An athletic therapist is a university graduate with a B.Sc. degree and must follow a vigorous certification process monitored by the Canadian Athletic Therapists Association (www.athletictherapy.org) and involves many hours of clinical and on-field training before acquiring certification. Every athletic therapist must maintain certification every year through continuing education courses, seminars and conferences. This process ensures that the knowledge and expertise of an athletic therapist is maintained to the highest of standards and covers the areas of human anatomy and physiology, injury prevention, assessment and rehabilitation, emergency on-field care and first aid, taping and other support techniques, biomechanics, strength and conditioning, nutrition, proper sports equipment safety and fitting and much more.

In the clinical setting an athletic therapist approaches each injury as an injury to the whole body. This whole-body approach to injury management ensures the patient receives proper care with an emphasis on a thorough assessment to uncover possible underlying causes like postural changes, muscle imbalances, weakness, anatomical deviations, overtraining and mechanics. The athletic therapist develops a plan with a variety of goals and objectives for quick recovery using proven treatment and conditioning techniques to decrease the potential of re-injury and enable you to return to your sport, activity or work pain-free.

Athletic therapy is a highly recognized profession in the field of Sports Medicine. Many athletic therapists work for professional sports teams across the nation and are involved in the front line care during most major sporting events like the Olympics. They can also be seen on the field at your local tournament. Among the services offered by athletic therapists are; develop flexibility and warm-up programs, pregame support and taping, preseason evaluations, personalized sport-specific training and conditioning programs, equipment fitting and safety, emergency care and first aid of on-field injuries (fractures, sprains, strains, heat stroke, dehydration, spinal and neurological) for teams, events, competitions and the evaluation and treatment of orthopaedic injuries.

Athletic therapy plays a significant role in the allied-health care plan to treat and rehabilitate orthopaedic injuries, promote a healthy lifestyle and prevent injury through education and training.

Contact your local Kinatex clinic for more information about the services offered by an Athletic Therapist.