02/09/2026
This is why I will always assess before I treat.
A client recently came to me with ongoing foot pain. It would have been easy to assume it was a muscular or soft-tissue issue and get straight into treatment.
But during my assessment, there were things that didn’t quite add up.
As a Level 4 Sports Remedial Therapist, I’m not there to simply find the painful area and treat it. My responsibility is to assess properly, recognise when something doesn’t look right, and understand when something is outside my scope of practice.
In this case, I suspected a stress fracture.
So rather than treating the foot, I advised my client to seek medical attention and have it investigated.
The X-ray confirmed it.
It was a stress fracture.
And this is exactly why I believe assessment is such an important part of what we do.
If I had gone ahead with massage, deeper soft-tissue work or other treatment without properly assessing the presentation, I could potentially have aggravated the injury or delayed the correct diagnosis.
Sometimes the most appropriate thing a therapist can do is not treat — and instead recognise that the client needs further investigation.
Being a good therapist isn’t just about the techniques you can perform.
It’s about understanding injury, asking the right questions, recognising red flags, working within your scope of practice, and having the confidence to refer when something doesn’t seem right.
Knowing when to treat is important. Knowing when not to treat is just as important.
Assess first. Treat appropriately. Refer when necessary.
Client safety always comes first.
