Sports Injury Recovery: How Our Physiotherapy Team Helps Toronto Athletes Get Back in the Game
by Hilary Mallinger, Sport Physiotherapist, RISPT
Last month, a 28-year-old soccer player walked into our clinic barely able to put weight on her sprained ankle. She'd rolled it during a weekend league game and assumed she just needed rest. Three weeks later, still limping and frustrated, she realized something wasn't right. Fast forward six weeks: she's back on the field, playing better than before her injury, with a deeper understanding of how her body moves.
This is what proper sports injury rehabilitation looks like—and it's very different from simply waiting for pain to go away.
Why Athletes Need More Than Rest
When you're sidelined by a sports injury, whether it's a sprained ankle, tennis elbow, or a pulled hamstring, your first instinct might be to rest and hope for the best. But here's what most weekend warriors and competitive athletes don't realize: healing isn't the same as recovering.
Your body will heal a torn ligament or strained muscle on its own, but without proper rehabilitation, you're left with lingering weakness, altered movement patterns, and a significantly higher risk of re-injury. Studies have shown that athletes who skip professional rehab are up to three times more likely to injure the same area again within a year.
4 Stages to Recovery
At Cadence Physiotherapy, we don't just treat your injury—we prepare your body to return to sport stronger and more resilient. Our approach follows four distinct stages, each building on the last.
Pain Management & Protection - This initial stage focuses on protecting the injured tissue while reducing pain and inflammation. We use hands-on techniques, sports taping, acupuncture and dry needling (where appropriate), and specific exercises to begin the healing process. You'll also learn what activities are safe and which ones to avoid during this critical early stage, as well as some home management strategies
Restore Normal Movement - Once the acute pain settles, we work on regaining your full range of motion and rebuilding the foundation of strength. This is where many DIY recoveries fall short—people feel better and assume they're ready to return to their sport, not realizing they're only halfway through proper recovery.
Progressive Strengthening - This stage introduces sport-specific exercises tailored to your activity. If you're a tennis player, we're working on rotational power and shoulder stability. Hockey player? We're focusing on lateral movement and explosive strength. This customization makes all the difference in how well you perform when you return to competition.
Return to Sport - The final stage guides your actual return to sport. We help you gradually reintegrate into practices and games, monitoring your response and adjusting as needed. We also help to identify and correct the movement patterns or training errors that contributed to your injury in the first place.
Beyond Recovery: Staying in the Game
The athletes we're most proud of aren't just the ones who recover quickly—they're the ones who understand that injury prevention is an ongoing process. Regular maintenance physiotherapy, proper warm-up routines, and addressing small issues before they become big problems are what separate athletes who thrive from those who struggle with recurring injuries.
Whether you play competitive sports or just love your weekend basketball league, you deserve expert care that gets you back to what you love doing. Our clinic serves the Scarborough and Beaches communities, and we specialize in sports injury recovery—we're here to help you not just heal, but come back stronger.
Don't let an injury keep you on the sidelines longer than necessary. Book a Physiotherapy assessment today and let's create your personalized recovery plan.
