Sports Therapy VS. Athletic Therapy: What’s the Difference?
Wednesday, February 14, 2018
Competitive Edge
So we have a little secret to tell you. We try to be patient. We try to re-explain and simplify. We try to be polite and not correct you too often. But nothing grinds our gears more than spending the better part of a conversation explaining to someone what Athletic Therapy is only to have them follow up with ” So how long have you been a sport therapist?”.
So let’s get this out there once and for all….
SPORT therapy is not the same as ATHLETIC therapy.
You might be asking: “Well what’s the difference?” or “Why does it matter/ Why do you care so much?”. Let me explain.
“Sport Therapy” is actually not a profession. It’s really nothing at all. If someone tells you they are a sport therapist- please run for the hills. Sport Therapy is an umbrella term used to describe any health care profession that works with a sport related population. A lot of clinics (like ours!) use the term in their name. This is because it can be used to encompass a variety of different professions.
As far an an individual professional- you can have a Sport Chiropractor or a Sport Physiotherapist. This means that that individual went on into a specialized sport program after completing their chiropractic/ physiotherapy education. Or you can have an Athletic Therapist- like us! Athletic Therapists specialize in the assessment and treatment of any injury to muscles/ bones/ joint/ etc. We also specialize in working with active individuals. Notice I said “active”, meaning you use your body for something sometimes. We are not exclusive to only Athletes, despite how our name sounds.
Why does it matter whether you say “Athletic Therapist” or “Sport Therapist”
So why do we care that you refer to us by our proper name as an “Athletic Therapist” or “AT” for short? Well currently, we are still a very small and growing profession. We are much smaller and lesser known than physiotherapy for example. Athletic Therapists are working very hard to get our name out there as a profession. We want people who know what we are, what we do, and how we are different. The more we receive the public recognition that our profession deserves, the more people we can help!
If you call us by an incorrect name, we could be mistaken for our other health care counter-parts. Consequently no one hears the words “athletic therapy“. No one hears about what we can do and how we can help them.. and our profession doesn’t grow or become more well known to the general public.
A small kindness for us Athletic Therapists
We know we sound picky and we know that our name is a little strange (considering I just told you that we don’t only exclusively work with athletes). But every time we hear one of our clients use our professional title correctly, it warms our hearts knowing that all of our hard work to get our profession out there is maybe paying off a little! So please- no “sport therapy” nonsense… unless you are referring to “Competitive Edge Sport Therapy”. And definitely don’t call us or put us in your calendar as “physio”. Small little changes in the way you refer to your beloved Athletic Therapist go a long way in helping make our efforts worth it!!
We thank you for your help in educating your friends and family about what “AT” is, how we are different and how we can help them! And we will try our absolute best to not face palm if you accidentally slip up and use the wrong title. We know a habit is hard to change!
Written by Lindsay Langlais , Certified Athletic Therapist
Looking for help with your injury, ache or pain? Apply to see an Athletic Therapist at our next FREE Treatment Friday! We offer this event a few times a year and it is exclusively for new clients wanting to put an end to their pain.