Sports Physiotherapy Singapore: Rehab and Return

Written by Zita Sham, Fairuuz Saleh and Shiv Mohan Banka, Principal Physiotherapists at Phoenix Rehab.Clinically reviewed by Louise Yow, Principal Physiotherapist & Director, AHPC A1300363H.Last reviewed 30 October 2026.

The hamstring went 30 minutes into Sunday futsal. Three weeks later you can walk, jog, even run for the bus, so you play again. First sprint, same place.

Sports physiotherapy at Phoenix Rehab is run by physiotherapists, and by hand therapists for the wrist, hand and elbow, at five clinics in Singapore: Orchard, Tampines, Serangoon, Tanjong Pagar and Jurong East. $230 per 45-minute appointment, nett, no GST. No referral needed.

Get Assessed & Treated

Tap, and our WhatsApp replies with a clinic near you and two appointment times. Bring any scan report, and the surgeon’s letter if you had an operation.

What is a sports physiotherapist?

A sports physiotherapist is a physiotherapist who assesses and treats injuries from sport and exercise, then trains the body back to what that sport demands: sprinting, landing, cutting, throwing, gripping. The work does not end when the pain settles. It ends when strength, control and sport-specific tests show the body is ready for the sport again.

Sports physio or regular physio?

Same profession, same registration with the Allied Health Professions Council. The difference is where the work stops. General physiotherapy often stops when daily life is comfortable. Sports physiotherapy carries on until the body can take the load your sport puts through it, and that is tested, not guessed.

Why the same injury keeps coming back

The usual thinking: it stopped hurting, so it has healed. Rest two weeks, ice it, go back.

Pain is the first thing to leave. Strength is the last thing to come back, and it only comes back when it is trained. A hamstring that feels fine walking is often still clearly weaker than the other side when it is measured. The tissue has healed enough to stop hurting. It has not been loaded enough to take a sprint.

So the pattern runs. You warm up longer. You stop going full pace in the last ten minutes. The badminton racquet stays in the car boot. You pull out of the 10K you already paid for. Then, one evening, it goes again in the same place.

Has anyone measured the injured leg against the other one? Not asked how it feels. Measured.

The knee research makes the point most clearly. In a study of 106 people after ACL reconstruction, those who passed strength and hop tests before going back to their sport re-injured the knee far less often than those who went back without passing them.¹

If you have a date, the season opener, the race, your IPPT, the league final, that date is the reason to know where you stand now, not the week before.

Sports injuries we see most, and where to read more

Injury	Usually feels like	Read more
Ankle sprain	Rolled the ankle on a landing or a kerb, with swelling and bruising on the outer side	Ankle physiotherapy
Hamstring strain	A sudden grab at the back of the thigh mid-sprint	Hamstring strain
Calf strain	Like being hit in the calf, often when pushing off	Pulled calf muscle
Achilles tendinitis	A stiff, sore heel cord first thing in the morning and at the start of a run	Achilles tendinitis
Achilles rupture	A kick or snap at the back of the heel on a lunge or push-off. See a doctor the same day	Achilles tendon rupture
ACL injury	A twist or awkward landing, a pop, swelling within hours, a knee that gives way	ACL injury and reconstruction
Meniscus tear	Pain on the inside or outside of the knee after a twist, with catching or locking	Meniscus tear
Patellar tendinitis	Pain just below the kneecap with jumping and landing	Patellar tendinitis
Outer knee pain when running	Starts at the same point in every run	Outer knee pain when running
Shin splints	An ache along the inside of the shin when running	Shin splints
Shoulder impingement	Pain lifting the arm overhead, serving or throwing	Shoulder impingement
Shoulder dislocation	The shoulder came out, often in a tackle or a fall	Bankart lesion
Tennis elbow	Outer elbow pain when gripping, on the backhand, or lifting the kettle	Tennis elbow
Golfer’s elbow	Inner elbow pain when gripping or swinging	Golfer’s elbow
TFCC and wrist injuries	Pain on the little-finger side of the wrist when turning a racquet, a key or a door handle	TFCC tear

Wrist, hand and elbow injuries are seen by our hand therapy team: hand therapists who work only on the finger, hand, wrist, forearm and elbow. Everything else is seen by our physiotherapists.

Sports injuries, by sport

Each sport loads the body its own way, so each one has its own short list of injuries. The sports injuries by sport page covers them sport by sport. The ones we see most often:

How sports physiotherapy works at Phoenix

Finding the real problem is half the battle. Treating it is the other half.

Everyone starts with one Assessment & Treatment, a 45-minute appointment. The physiotherapist asks how it happened, in your words, then measures what matters for that injury: range, strength against the other side, how you land, hop and change direction. Most of the appointment is then treatment: hands-on work, joint mobilization, and exercise at a load the injury can take. You leave knowing which stage you are in, what is limiting you, and what you need to pass before you go back, written down.

From there, recovery runs on The Phoenix Recovery Protocol. Criteria Before Clearance: you move to the next stage when you pass its tests, not when a set number of weeks has gone by.

Stage	What it is for	Example of what you pass to move on
1. Calm & Protect	Settle pain and swelling, and protect the injury	Walking and daily tasks without the pain building the next day
2. Move & Mobilize	Get movement back, with caution	Range equal to the other side, or close to it
3. Rebuild & Strengthen	Strength, stability and stamina	Strength within about 10% of the other side
4. Return & Perform	The demands of your sport	Hop tests and sport drills at full pace, without the joint giving way or pain building afterward

Graduation, Not Discharge: you finish when the Stage 4 criteria are met, not when a number of appointments runs out.

Return-to-Sport Clearance sits at the end of Stage 4: the full set of tests, a written report, and a letter to your surgeon if you had an operation. You can come for it even if you did your rehab somewhere else. It starts with the same Assessment & Treatment, and your therapist tells you at that visit how many appointments the testing and any remaining Stage 4 work need.

Who you will see

Fairuuz Saleh, ACL reconstruction and return to sport, over 1,000 cases since 1997.
Zita Sham, sports injuries and recovery after ACL reconstruction.
Shiv Mohan Banka, cricket injuries and personal training.
Yuna Zhuang, hand therapist, wrist injuries in climbers, racquet players and gym athletes, and a former climber herself.
Mavis Tham, hand therapist, TFCC tears and wrist ligament injuries, around 200 since 2018.

Every appointment is one to one with the therapist for the full 45 minutes. No therapy assistants.

When to see a doctor first

Call 995 if someone collapses, is unconscious, or has chest pain or trouble breathing during or after exercise.
Go to the emergency department now after a head knock with confusion, vomiting or a worsening headache, if you cannot take any weight on the leg, or if a joint looks out of shape.
See a doctor the same day if a knee swelled within a few hours of a twist, you felt a kick or snap at the back of the heel, or the wrist or a finger is swollen and painful after a fall on it.
See a doctor soon if the pain wakes you at night, or it has not improved after two weeks of rest and lighter training.

Physiotherapists refer for scans through a doctor when they are needed. They do not order them.

Questions about sports physiotherapy

Do I need a referral to see a sports physiotherapist?

No. You can book directly. If you had surgery, bring the surgeon’s letter or protocol, because the surgeon’s protocol decides what happens in the early weeks.

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

For most sprains and strains, within the first few days is reasonable, once the warning signs above are ruled out. Early treatment focuses on settling pain and swelling and keeping the movement that is safe.

When can I go back to my sport?

When you pass the Stage 4 tests for your injury and your sport, not after a set number of weeks. Typical times vary by injury. After surgery, your surgeon’s protocol takes precedence.

Is sports physiotherapy only for athletes?

No. Most people we see play weekend futsal, badminton at the community club, run, or train at the gym. The approach is the same: measure, treat, and train back to what you want to do.

Three weeks after the hamstring, or three months after the knee, the question is the same: which stage are you actually in, and what do you need to pass before you play? That is what the first appointment answers.

Sources: 1. Grindem H, Snyder-Mackler L, Moksnes H, Engebretsen L, Risberg MA. Simple decision rules can reduce reinjury risk by 84% after ACL reconstruction: the Delaware-Oslo ACL cohort study. Br J Sports Med 2016;50:804-808.

Where are you with this right now?

1. It is settling on its own

Most injuries and most flare-ups settle over weeks with sensible load management and a return to normal movement. Improvement is judged over a month, not over a day, and good days and bad days inside that are usual. If you are doing more this month than last, and sleeping better, it is behaving the way it should. You do not need us for this, and we would rather say so.

2. It has stopped improving

You have adapted without noticing. The other side takes the load, you plan movements you used to make without thinking, and you have quietly dropped things you used to do.

What our patients say

Google reviews from our clinics in Singapore.

       
 Excellent5.0564 reviews
 5.0
 Excellent564 reviews
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   Micah 
 75 days ago
 
 
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Amazing experience with Phoenix Rehab, was assisted by Mavis. She’s very kind and professional and did thorough check on my wrist. I feel very comfortable during the process.

I went in for thermoplastic splint, and everything went smoothly. She was able to address my needs on my left wrist sprain.

They were prompt with appointment process and inquiry. Also the clinic is very close to Tanjong Pagar MRT. I highly recommend!
  
 
     Posted on Google  
   
   Chiky Phan 
 79 days ago
 
 
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Fist time doing ultrasound for my tennis elbow!! Let’s hope it gets better the next few weeks!! Thank Mavis Tham!!
  
 
     Posted on Google  
   
   XIN WANG 
 96 days ago
 
 
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Great treatment from my therapist. My painful wrist felt a lot of relief after the session. I’m glad I can slowly get back to doing my usual activities without constant pain.
  
 
     Posted on Google  
   
   Abby Lee 
 112 days ago
 
 
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Very helpful and friendly !
  
 
     Posted on Google  
   
   雪梅Cui 
 150 days ago
 
 
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The masseur is very professional and provides excellent service ，yati is very good!
  
 
     Posted on Google  
   
   Tra Nguyen 
 241 days ago
 
 
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I wasn’t able to close my fingers due to an injury. Nurul at Phoenix Rehab has helped me tremendously with my recovery process. I have been able to resume my daily activities and exercises after only a few sessions. Nurul has been very professional and positive throughout the entire process. Thank you so much for your help!
  
 
     Posted on Google  
   
   Juzer K 
 279 days ago
 
 
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Huge shoutout to Yuna Zhang from Phoenix Rehab for helping in my recovery from golfer’s elbow 🙌

I walked in with persistent elbow pain that was affecting workouts and everyday tasks, and Yuna immediately made me feel confident I was in the right hands. She took the time to properly assess my condition, explain the root cause, and tailor a treatment plan to my specific needs instead of using a one-size-fits-all approach.

What I really appreciated was how personalised every session felt. The exercises she gave me were practical, easy to follow, and actually worked. Within a short time, the pain reduced significantly and my strength and mobility improved much faster than I expected.

On top of that, the pricing is very reasonable and affordable, which made committing to recovery much easier.

Professional, knowledgeable, and genuinely caring — highly recommend Yuna at Phoenix Rehab if you’re dealing with hand-related sports injuries 💪
  
 
     Posted on Google  
   
   Fazal Hanafi Chaudhry 
 363 days ago
 
 
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I enjoy coming to Phoenix rehab as they offer a wide variety of services. I had a finger accident and was working with a very experienced hand therapist. Place is clean and comfortable.  Staff were friendly and appointment was on time
  
 
     Posted on Google  
   
   Stella Yam 
 504 days ago
 
 
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Very good
  
 
     Posted on Google  
   
   Juliana 
 506 days ago
 
 
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Have both physio n Tcm visits here, highly recommend!
  
 
 
  
 
 
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Pain is the first thing to leave. Movement and strength are the last things trained back, and most people stop before that part is done. That is the gap worth measuring, and it is not measured by how you feel on the day.

The Stalled Recovery Review is three appointments over three weeks with the same therapist, because what a joint does under load cannot be read in one visit. The first finds what is limiting it. The next two measure how it responds. $690, nett, no GST, which is three appointments at $230.

3. You have had surgery, or you have a date

Recovery after an operation has a shape, and knowing which stage you are in tells you whether you are on it. See the recovery programs, hand and physiotherapy, or the four stages and what each one works on if you are not sure which applies to you.

All of it runs on the same four stages. The Phoenix Recovery Protocol explains what each stage works on and what you have to meet to move up. No referral needed to start.

Next step

Find out which stage you are in

Pain is the first thing to leave. Movement and strength are the last things trained back, and most people stop before that part is done. One Assessment and Treatment is a single 45-minute appointment at $230, nett, no GST. Your therapist finds what is actually limiting you, treats it in the same appointment, and you leave with your current stage and a written plan.

WhatsApp us

Prefer to phone? Each of our five clinics has its own number on the clinics page. No referral needed to book.