How soon after a sports injury should I see a physiotherapist?

As soon as possible. Early assessment within the first 24 to 72 hours allows your physiotherapist to guide load management, reduce swelling and prevent the compensatory movement patterns that slow recovery. Most acute sporting injuries recover faster with early physiotherapy than with rest alone.

Can I keep training while recovering from a sports injury?

In most cases, yes. Modified training is almost always better than complete rest. Your physiotherapist will identify which movements are safe, prescribe appropriate loading, and help you maintain fitness while the injured tissue heals. Returning to full training too quickly without guidance is the most common cause of reinjury.

Sports Injury Physio Mooloolaba

Acute sports injuries

Acute injuries — sprains, strains, muscle tears and contusions — benefit most from early physiotherapy assessment. The goal in the first 48–72 hours is managing load and swelling while maintaining as much movement as is safe, then introducing progressive rehabilitation as quickly as the injury will allow. Prolonged rest without movement almost always slows recovery.

Common acute sporting injuries we manage at our Mooloolaba clinic include:

Ankle ligament sprains (lateral and syndesmotic)
Hamstring, quad and calf strains (grades 1–3)
Shoulder dislocations and AC joint sprains
Knee ligament injuries — MCL, LCL and PCL
Rib contusions and intercostal strains
Finger and hand ligament injuries

ACL and knee rehabilitation

ACL injuries — whether managed conservatively or following reconstruction — require a long and well-structured rehabilitation program. The research is clear that premature return to sport dramatically increases re-injury risk. Our programs follow criteria-based progression rather than time-based milestones: you advance when you can demonstrate the strength, control and movement quality required for the next stage, not simply because a calendar says it has been six months.

Key phases of ACL rehabilitation at our clinic include early quad activation and range-of-motion recovery, progressive strengthening of the quads, hamstrings, glutes and hip stabilisers, neuromuscular control and proprioception training, running and change-of-direction progression, and sport-specific loading before return to competition.

Overuse and chronic sporting injuries

Tendinopathies, stress reactions and overuse syndromes require a different approach to acute injuries — and often a different mindset. Complete rest rarely resolves a tendinopathy. Progressive loading through the painful range, at the right dose and intensity, is what drives tendon adaptation and recovery.

Chronic sporting injuries we regularly manage include:

Achilles tendinopathy and plantar fasciitis
Patellar and quadriceps tendinopathy
Gluteal tendinopathy and greater trochanteric pain syndrome
Rotator cuff tendinopathy and shoulder impingement
ITB syndrome
Shin splints (medial tibial stress syndrome)
Stress fractures — assessment, load management and return to running programs

Post-surgical rehabilitation

Following orthopaedic surgery — ACL reconstruction, rotator cuff repair, total knee or hip replacement — structured physiotherapy is what determines how well and how quickly function returns. We follow surgeon-specific protocols where provided and tailor progression to what the objective assessment shows at each stage.

Our on-site rehabilitation studio means supervised exercise sessions happen at the same clinic as your manual therapy appointments, not across town at a separate gym. You can learn more about the full range of services at Absolute Health Chiropractic & Physiotherapy, including chiropractic care for spinal involvement in sporting injuries.

Motion IQ and sports rehabilitation

For spinal involvement in sporting injuries — thoracic stiffness limiting overhead shoulder movement, lumbar range deficits in rowers or cyclists, cervical restrictions affecting contact sport players — Motion IQ testing provides objective baseline measurement and tracks recovery across the course of treatment. It removes the guesswork from progress assessments and gives both clinician and athlete a clear picture of what is changing.

Sports injuries: from acute to return to sport