CARMEL — You can usually find 16-year-old Ethan Cutsinger out on the baseball diamond.
The University High School sophomore plays for the Westfield Mustangs.
But this summer, he struck out.
“I had a stress fracture in my L-5," Cutsinger said. “Kinda slowed me down. I’ve had a few injuries. The recovery took a while.”
He came to Team Rehabilitation Physical Therapy Carmel a few months ago to get back into the swing of things.
“We see quite a bit of shoulder, lower back, concussion is a big thing, especially with those higher impact sports," Clinic Owner Katelin Koontz said.
Koontz says physical therapy treatment can reduce recovery time for student-athletes, allowing them to safely return to their sport.
And she knows firsthand.
She tore her meniscus playing softball in high school, something that changed the trajectory of her life.
“Going through that process myself, seeing what an impact my physical therapist made on my life and the amount of time that they spent with us, the amount of effort and like commitment, made me say ‘I want that,'" she said.
Koontz says these injuries can be devastating for student-athletes both physically and mentally.
A physical therapist will step in to prevent further injury and teach proper techniques to improve strength, flexibility, and balance.
“As much as an injury is physical, it can also be a mental struggle. We talk through a lot of that. I like to think of us as we motivate you and give you your small victories so you can see all these small steps that are trending in the direction where you want to go,” Koontz said.
If you’re struggling with pain and limitations for more than a week and they’re making you change the way you’re doing things, it may be time to seek physical therapy.
Team Rehab offers free injury screenings.
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