A physiotherapist can assess your injury and provide you with a treatment plan that is tailored to your goals and ambitions, which are personal to you. For example – a sponsored skateboarder may want to film a new video part, but they keep rolling their ankle; a photographer may want to continue shooting photos for a magazine, but their back is aching; and the skate park local may just want an hours skate after work with less pain. Whatever you feel your injury or concern is stopping you from doing, you can talk to your physiotherapist about it and they can assist you with rehabilitation and preventative advice. If you need further support elsewhere, your physio can help you make the right choice and refer you to the appropriate service – including Strength & Conditioning and Sports Yoga.
Physiotherapy involves assessing, treating, and preventing injury and illness of many kinds. In the context of skateboarding, a physiotherapist can assess someones injury and provide evidence-based treatment approaches to support them to recover and get back to skateboarding. A physio will be able to provide you with a treatment plan, which usually includes a mix of exercises, advice and education, and hands on treatment when appropriate; or they will advise you on your next steps for further medical management.
Furthermore, physiotherapists also aim to educate people on how to reduce the risk of re-injury, or else, like Ben (below) you may lose count of how many times you’ve rolled your ankles!
Ben is a senior physiotherapist primarily working in the NHS, and a keen skateboarder. Ben has over ten years experience as a sponsored skateboarder, and two years experience working with skateboarders from a physiotherapy perspective. He now provides some video call physio assessments for skateboarders alongside his NHS work.