Sports physio
Sports Physiotherapy in North Vancouver
One-on-one assessment, hands-on treatment, and a load-based plan that gets you back to your sport.
What it is
Sports Physiotherapy in North Vancouver at Medstar.
Physiotherapy at Medstar is the appointment your other appointments get compared to. You'll spend the full hour with the same physiotherapist. There are no rotating juniors, no shared exercise gym, no parallel-treatment model where you're plugged into a machine while the clinician runs to the next patient. Sessions are one-on-one in a private treatment room.
Every physio on the team is registered with the College of Physical Therapists of British Columbia (CPTBC), and our clinic lead, Amir Ahmadi, holds the post-graduate IMS certification through the Institute for the Study and Treatment of Pain (UBC). That means the manual therapy and dry-needling decisions you'd otherwise pay extra for at a sports-medicine clinic are baked into the standard physio hour.
We treat the same things the bigger downtown clinics treat: post-operative knees and shoulders, chronic low back pain, runner's knees, rotator cuff tendinopathies, hip impingement, ankle sprains, sport concussions, ICBC whiplash. The difference is the appointment structure: you get the clinician's full attention, and the plan we send you home with is one you can actually do in a busy week, not a 14-exercise circuit you'll abandon by Tuesday.
How it works
Inside a session.
The first visit is 60 minutes. We start with a structured clinical history: what happened, when, what makes it better, what makes it worse, and what you are trying to get back to. Then a hands-on physical exam: range of motion, strength testing, specific orthopaedic tests for the joint and surrounding tissues, and a movement assessment that puts the whole chain under load.
By the end of that hour, you'll leave with three things: a working diagnosis (or a short list if the picture is genuinely mixed), your first round of treatment already delivered (manual therapy, IMS, or laser as indicated), and a small set of exercises calibrated to where you actually are, rather than a generic post-injury protocol off a worksheet.
Follow-up visits are 30 to 45 minutes depending on what the case needs. Most patients are reassessed every third or fourth visit so the plan stays calibrated to your real progress, not the timeline we estimated on day one.
Conditions we treat with this
See how sports physiotherapy fits into specific recovery plans.
- Knee injury & ACL recovery: post-op and sport knees
- Shoulder & rotator cuff: impingement, tears, frozen shoulder
- Low back pain & sciatica: acute flares and chronic ache
- Whiplash & ICBC injuries: first 12 weeks matter
- Runner's knee & IT band: patellofemoral pain
- Hip pain & groin injuries: FAI, labrum, gluteal tendinopathy
What to expect
Most musculoskeletal cases resolve inside 6 to 10 visits. You'll typically notice a meaningful change after the first 2 to 3 sessions; if you don't, we tell you that on visit three and adjust the plan. We do not string people along.
What patients say
"I'd tried two other clinics before Medstar. First time a physio actually explained what was going wrong and gave me a plan I could stick to."
"Booked same-week after my car accident. Amir was thorough. The assessment took the full hour, which I wasn't expecting. Made a real difference."
"Back running after six weeks. The home exercise plan was actually doable, not a 45-minute routine I'd skip."
Talk to us
Not sure if it's the right fit?
Send a quick note about what's going on. A physiotherapist will read it and tell you honestly whether sports physiotherapy is the right tool, or whether something else makes more sense first.
Common questions
About sports physiotherapy.
Do I need a doctor's referral to see a physio in BC?
No. Physiotherapists in British Columbia are primary-care practitioners, so you can book directly without a referral. Your extended-health plan may still require one for reimbursement, so check the wording on your policy. ICBC and WorkSafeBC do not require a physician referral for physiotherapy. Booking directly also means you can start treatment as soon as an appointment is available, rather than waiting on a family doctor visit first. Initial assessments run 60 minutes so there is time to cover your full history.
How long is a session and what does it cost?+
Initial assessment is 60 minutes; subsequent visits are 30 or 45 minutes depending on what the case needs. Current rates and direct-billing details are on the Jane booking page. We direct-bill most extended-health insurers, ICBC, WorkSafeBC, RCMP, and Veterans Affairs Canada, so most patients pay nothing at the visit.
What's the difference between physiotherapy and chiropractic, RMT, or osteopathy?+
Physiotherapists are diagnostic primary-care clinicians regulated by the CPTBC, so we assess, diagnose, and treat using manual therapy, exercise prescription, and electrotherapeutic modalities. Chiropractors focus primarily on spinal manipulation, RMTs deliver soft-tissue massage (no diagnostic scope), and manual osteopaths use a whole-body hands-on framework. The disciplines overlap but the regulated scopes differ. We commonly co-treat with our in-house RMT and osteopath when the case warrants it.
Will I be doing exercises every day for the rest of my life?+
No. The goal is to rebuild enough capacity in the relevant tissue that you stop needing to think about it. Most patients graduate to a short maintenance routine they can fold into normal training, about 5 to 10 minutes a few times a week rather than 45 minutes daily.
What should I wear to my first appointment?+
Comfortable, loose-fitting clothes that let us see and access the body region we're working on. For lower-limb assessments, shorts work well; for shoulder or back work, a tank top or athletic top. We have private rooms and clean gowns if you'd rather change here. Your first visit runs a full 60 minutes, so there is time to get changed, walk through your history, and complete a hands-on assessment without feeling rushed. Bring any imaging reports or referral paperwork you already have.
Do you treat children and adolescents?+
Yes, mainly adolescent sport injuries (growth-plate-related issues like Osgood-Schlatter, Sever's, sport concussions, ACL post-op). A parent or guardian attends the first visit for patients under 16. The first assessment still runs the full 60 minutes, since growing bodies need extra attention to training load, growth-plate stress, and technique before we build an exercise plan. We keep parents informed of progress at every visit.
What if I've already been to physio elsewhere and it didn't help?+
Bring whatever notes, exercise sheets, or imaging reports you have. The most common reasons previous physio didn't work are: load progression that was too slow, treatment focused on the painful joint without addressing the chain above and below, or a diagnosis that wasn't quite right. We'll reassess from scratch and tell you honestly what we'd do differently.
How often will my plan be reassessed once treatment starts?+
Most patients are reassessed every third or fourth physiotherapy visit, so the plan stays calibrated to your real progress rather than the timeline estimated on day one. Follow-up visits run 30 to 45 minutes depending on what the case needs, and frequency typically tapers from twice weekly to weekly as function returns.
Reviewed by Amir Ahmadi, PhD, MSc PT, Registered Physiotherapist, Certified IMS Therapist, College of Physical Therapists of British Columbia (CPTBC). Last reviewed May 2026.
This page is for general information only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Treatment suitability is determined case-by-case during assessment; not every service is appropriate for every presentation. If you have a medical implant, are pregnant, take blood thinners, or have an active infection, tell your physiotherapist before treatment. Physiotherapy at Medstar Sport Physio & Health is provided by physiotherapists registered with the College of Physical Therapists of British Columbia (CPTBC).
Ready to book?