What Every Athlete Must Know About Sports Injuries

Oct 8, 2025

(Sports Injury Prevention and Recovery | Bay Laurel Athletics | San Carlos, CA – Bay Area)

The Reality of Sports Injuries

Sports injuries can happen to anyone — from middle school athletes to professionals to weekend warriors. The good news is, many injuries can be prevented or significantly reduced with the right training, assessment, and recovery approach.

At Bay Laurel Athletics in San Carlos, California, we help athletes across the Bay Area understand their injury risk, recover faster, and perform at their best. Whether you’re looking to prevent injuries, return to your sport, or avoid surgery, knowledge and early action make all the difference.

Understanding Your Injury Risk

Every time you step on the court, field, or track, there’s a risk of injury — no matter your sport or skill level. While we can’t completely eliminate risk, we can significantly lower it. But first, you have to know where your body is most vulnerable by determining what your injury risk actually is.

At Bay Laurel Athletics, we use well-researched assessments like the Y Balance Test (YBT) also known as the Star Excursion Balance Test (SEBT) to measure injury risk. This dynamic test evaluates flexibility, strength, agility, balance, and proprioception and provides a significant challenge to athletes. It identifies performance deficits and helps pinpoint athletes who are more likely to experience lower body injuries such as ankle sprains or ACL tears — whether they’re high school, professional, or recreational athletes.

Once you know your risk — whether low, medium, or high — you can train with purpose. A high injury risk isn’t a bad thing; it’s an opportunity. When you understand your body’s weak points, you can focus your training to strengthen them and dramatically reduce your chance of injury.

PREVENTION IS ALWAYS EASIER THAN RECOVERY! (Emphasis Added - We can't stress this enough!)

Schedule your Injury Prevention Screening at Bay Laurel Athletics in San Carlos today and take the first step toward playing stronger and safer.

The Truth About Rest: Helpful or Harmful?

Too often, athletes are told to “rest and wait it out” after an injury. While rest can be helpful for a day or two, long periods of inactivity can significantly slow recovery. For mild to moderate injuries — like ankle sprains, knee pain, hip or shoulder strains, or low back pain — research consistently shows that starting physical therapy early leads to faster recovery. Of course, more severe injuries like fractures or injuries that require surgical intervention may require extended rest periods in combination with sports-specific rehabilitation.

At Bay Laurel Athletics in San Carlos, we offer same-day and next-day appointments so Bay Area athletes can start rehab immediately. The sooner therapy begins, the quicker you regain strength, mobility, and confidence — and the faster you get back to your sport.

Treatments That Expedite Healing

  • Soft-tissue mobilization and massage – improves circulation and mobility

  • Stretching and range-of-motion work – restores flexibility

  • Blood Flow Restriction (BFR) training – promotes natural human growth hormone (HGH) for faster recovery

  • Electrical stimulation – reduces pain and activates muscles

  • Neuromuscular re-education and targeted strengthening – rebuilds coordination and power

We’ve seen the difference this makes firsthand. One high school athlete with a grade 1-2 ankle sprain was immobilized for 3 weeks, instructed to rest 3 additional weeks, waited 3 more weeks to get an appointment at a busy physical therapy clinic, began his rehab 9 weeks after injury and required 6 weeks to recovery missing the majority of his senior year high school football season. In contrast, Bay Laurel Athletics athletes who begin rehab for ankle sprains within days of their injury often return to full performance in just 2–3 weeks - preserving precious time in their sports seasons.

Avoiding Surgery

Many athletes come to us hoping to avoid surgery, and in many cases, that’s possible. Oftentimes athletes think sports injuries create more tissue damage than what actually occurs in the body due to pain responses. However, pain does not always equal tissue damage. The body’s ability to heal is incredible and we don’t give our body’s resiliency and natural healing process enough credit. With the right therapeutic intervention (see above) that boosts healing processes and the right dosing for athletic performance levels, athletes can often regain full function pain-free without surgery.

At Bay Laurel Athletics, we are committed to helping each athlete meet their specific needs and big goals incorporating their medical intervention choices. We’ve seen countless athletes in the Peninsula and across the Bay Area make full recoveries — no surgery, no pain, and full performance.

What If You Do Need Surgery?

Sometimes, surgery is the best choice for certain injuries, like complex fractures or major ligament tears (e.g., ACL tear). Even if surgery is necessary, starting rehab before surgery is never wasted time. Pre-surgery rehab strengthens muscles, improves mobility, and helps the body recover faster afterward. Post-surgery rehab at Bay Laurel Athletics is sports-specific and more progressive in order to maximize the rehab process.

Not All Physical Therapy Is the Same

Just like in sports, quality matters. Not every physical therapy experience is the same. At Bay Laurel Athletics, we specialize in athletes — from middle school to professional level throughout the San Carlos and greater Bay Area— and tailor every session to each individual sport and performance goals. We understand high level competitive athletes and what it truly takes to develop them to peak performance without leaving talent on the sidelines.

We’ve helped:

  • A CrossFit athlete returned to squatting 300 lbs within 4 months of ACL surgery. Unheard of!

  • A football player avoided shoulder surgery after multiple dislocations. Inspiring!

  • A high school athlete rebuilt his strength and lowered his injury risk coming to us after knee surgery for patellar dislocations — cleared by his surgery and finishing months of rehab but still at high risk with 3 cm of quad atrophy/loss. Redeemed!

That’s why we emphasize injury prevention testing and performance-based rehab. Whether you are dealing with ankle sprains, ACL tears, shoulder impingement, hamstring strains, low back pain, etc., we’ve got you!

Stay in the Game

At Bay Laurel Athletics in San Carlos, we believe every athlete deserves to perform at their best — without being held back by injury. Whether you’re recovering, rebuilding, or preventing future injuries, we’re here to help you move better, recover faster, and play stronger — for life. Our mission is to help athletes stay in the game — because your sport isn’t just something you do, it’s part of who you are.

Book your Sports Rehab session in San Carlos today and keep your performance — and passion — at its peak.

Written by:

Dr. Laurel Mines, PT, DPT, OCS

Physical Therapist, Mental Performance Coach, Owner of Bay Laurel Athletics and Stanford University Teaching Specialist