Occasionally patients enquire as to whether a physiotherapist is a ‘sports physiotherapist’ or whether the physiotherapist treats ‘sports injuries’.

Although many physiotherapists have a personal interest in sport, there is no sub-category of ‘sports’ physiotherapist and indeed sports injuries don’t always affect sports people!

I recently had a patient who had sustained a typical footballing injury where the players’ foot is ‘fixed’ in the ground by the studs on the football boot and the player twists, leaving the foot behind and stressing the ligaments and cartilage in the knee.

Commonly, the knee is painful and swollen with difficulty weight bearing and achieving full movement. Treatment is aimed at reducing the pain, managing the swelling and restoring the movement before rehabilitating the patient back to full function.

My patients’ presentation was a textbook case of this common injury except he isn’t a footballer. He is a grounds worker and had sustained his injury by getting his foot ‘fixed’ in a work boot stuck in mud!

So, although some sports predispose people to certain sorts of problems, the same can be said for certain occupations and other more sedentary hobbies, and this won’t affect your physiotherapists’ assessment or treatment.

As long as your physiotherapist is registered with the Health Professions Council (HPC) and works at Blizard Physiotherapy you will be in good hands!