Cleared to Play: How a Sports Physiotherapist Decides when it’s Safe to Return after Injury

You feel fine. The limp is gone, the swelling has settled, the pain has faded, and the six weeks your doctor mentioned are up. None of that tells you whether the tissue can survive a full-speed sprint or a hard change of direction. That gap, between feeling recovered and being able to load the injury the way your sport does, is where most re-injuries happen.