Musculoskeletal injury can be caused in a number of ways, everything from a car accidents and slip and falls, to repetitive motion and the general wear and tear that occurs over time.
These injuries can affect anyone of any age, and can cause mobility issues, acute and chronic pain, an inability to do everyday tasks easily, as well as not being able to enjoy sports and leisure activities.
While people may be familiar with other rehabilitative clinicians, a different option is to seek help from an athletic therapist, as their training and approach to care offers a variety of treatment options for prevention, recovery and rehabilitation.
Synergy Sport Therapy offers clinical rehabilitation and client care
Entrepreneurial team Kristina Milligan and Lori Stevenson, who are both certified athletic therapists and registered massage therapists, recently re-launched Synergy Sport Therapy, an athletic therapy clinic at a new location in Guelph.
Providing injury assessment, prevention and rehabilitation, Milligan and Stevenson are both certified athletic therapists and registered massage therapists. Milligan, who originally launched Sport Synergy Therapy four-and-a-half years ago, and Stevenson, who previously worked for the Guelph Storm and also ran her own business, have combined their services and expertise to re-launch Sport Synergy Therapy together, this past December.
Anyone can reap the benefits of seeing an athletic therapist
According to the Canadian Athletic Therapy Association, athletic therapists are “best known for their quick-thinking on-field emergency care of professional and elite athletes” and are “experts at injury assessment and rehabilitation” for anyone with musculoskeletal injuries.
Stevenson said, the biggest misconception about athletic therapy is that it’s for athletes alone. On the contrary, because they’re trained in multiple skill sets, they can treat kids, adults and seniors, suffering a wide range of issues including sports injury, concussions, accidents or any type of pain.
“Everyday you’re putting yourself through activities of some sort, so we can rehab anyone from chronic injuries to acute injuries, we can work in-clinic, we can work on the field with sports teams,” Stevenson said, with Milligan adding they can also help those who are pre and post surgery or have undergone hip and knee replacements.”
Following the Sports Medicine Model of care, they take a personal, hands-on approach with their clients, applying various manual therapies, different modalities and exercises, and for Milligan and Stevenson, massage and acupuncture as well.
“I think what really makes us stand out is we spend our time one-on-one with our clients,” Milligan said. “When they come in, they only see us and generally we spend an hour with them going through a thorough assessment and creating a rehab plan that’s based in manual therapy and some exercise therapy.”
They create individualized treatment plans with the ultimate goal of having clients “return to sport, return to life or work,” Stevenson said. Milligan said, they also specialize in prevention of injury, teaching people how to avoid injury before it happens,
“Let’s say you play a high level sport, or you’re afraid you might get injured, you feel like something isn’t aligned or you’re feeling unstable on one side versus the other, we can go in and do an assessment and look at what your limitations are and what we need to do.”
If you want one-on-one individualized care and an active approach to injury prevention or rehabilitation, visit Synergy Sport Therapy located on 476 Woodlawn Rd. E. They adhere to strict COVID precautions including mask wearing and social distancing protocols. To book an appointment, call 519-803-2335 or contact them today.