Guest Post: Overview of Athletic Therapy

Hi everyone, my name is Steacy Huff and I am currently in Mrs. Barz's me and the meme technology class. For part of an assignment we are doing I wrote a blog on a brief overview of the profession of athletic therapy. I am an aspiring athletic therapy student and wanted to educate people on this profession as I think it is very interesting and something everyone should be educated about.

Many people are familiar with with the profession of physiotherapy. Often people attend physiotherapy  after obtaining an injury to get back into the sport or activity they were playing before. But what about the profession of athletic therapy? Many people are not quite as familiar with athletic therapy as they are with physiotherapy.  There are many similarities between the two professions that often people view them as the same thing. Carla Brash, who is a certified athletic therapist at Kingston Athletic Therapy Centre, describes athletic therapy as “finding the root of the cause and treating it therefore indirectly treating the injury.” For more information visit their website at http://www.kingstonatc.com/ or follow them on Twitter @KingstonATC.

Both athletic therapists and physiotherapists use similar methods to treat injuries but athletic therapy is a more hands on practice. Some athletic therapists use a technique called visceral treatment. When using this technique, the therapists releases the tension that is created within the organs of a person body caused from every day stresses. Many people are not aware that the organs within their body can become tight. Organs, such as the kidneys, attach to the spine through the viscera. The viscera with in your body can become tight due to everyday stresses, just as your muscles become tight after you workout for the fist time in a few weeks. Due to the visceral attachment on the spine, this can lead to low back pain if your kidneys and viscera become tight. Visceral treatment was developed by a french osteopath and physical therapist named Jean-Pierre Barral. For more information on visceral treatment visit his website as http://www.barralinstitute.com/about/vm.php.

If the athletic therapy interests you, I would encourage you to check out the Canadian Athletic Therapy Association website at http://www.athletictherapy.org/en/index.aspx where you can find information on the profession and find a certified athletic therapist near you.