What Athletic Therapy Is
Athletic therapists specialise in musculoskeletal injury — assessment, immediate care, and the return-to-activity progression afterwards. The training is built around sport and physical work, including on-field emergency care, and the orientation is consistently toward getting you back to a specific activity rather than to a general baseline.
In practice it overlaps heavily with physiotherapy, and the two are hard to tell apart from a booking page. The credential to look for is CAT(C), a national certification. Athletic therapy is less established in British Columbia than in some other provinces, so there are fewer practitioners here.
What a Session Looks Like
Initial visits 45–60 minutes; follow-ups 30–45
Assessment tends to be movement- and sport-specific — you may be asked to reproduce the exact action that hurts. Treatment combines manual work, taping and bracing, and progressive loading. Bring the shoes or gear relevant to your activity if the problem only shows up during it.
Common Reasons People Book
- Sport injuries — sprains, strains, overuse
- A structured return to a specific sport or event
- Taping and bracing for ongoing activity
- Concussion management protocols, with a therapist who lists them
- Injury prevention screening before a season
Last reviewed 2026-09-23.