Urban Active Sport Therapy Clinic

Urban Active is centrally located in downtown Vancouver, right on Granville Street, on the same block as the Vancouver Downtown SkyTrain station and one block from Granville SkyTrain station. The health professionals there know how to address problems caused by both my activity (sports) and my inactivity (office work). I have a rare rheumatological condition, which I didn’t expect anybody to be able to help me with, but Urban Active has really gone beyond my expectations. Registered massage therapist Jacquie Sinclair is giving me the best care I’ve ever gotten.

I’ve played a lot of contact sports and participated in numerous activities over the years. As a result I’ve had my share of injuries, with the healing enjoying varying degrees of success (admittedly, some of the less successful have been my fault as well). I was injured playing hockey in September of 2013 and after being diagnosed with shoulder issues and a hyper-​extended elbow, I took my wife’s advice and booked a couple of appointments at Urban active; one with Jacquie Sinclair for massage therapy and the other with Lauren Welch for massage therapy. This was the best healing decision I’ve ever made.
While I’m still dealing with the injuries, there’s some significant damage that is being dealt with through medical interventions, the therapeutic machinations of Jacquie and Lauren have combined to get me back to my old active self. Jacquie homes in on every little knot and tight piece of tissue while Lauren takes care of the ultrasound, electrical stimulation, and stretching. Combining their expertise with the exercises I’ve been given for at home as brought back my range of motion to near 100% and reduced my pain levels considerably.
I can’t thank these two ladies enough for the work they’ve done with me. Without them my recovery would be much further behind. Their work is the best I’ve experienced in my years of receiving complementary/​preventative medical treatments. Both of them know what questions to ask, what tactics to try, and how to assess progress. They are also keen to get the updates from my sports med doctor to better focus my treatments and recovery.
The location is great for me as it’s mere blocks from work, downtown on Granville Street. I can walk there after work and then walk home. The support staff is also wonderful. The whole place has a down to business, friendly, client centered atmosphere that more than makes up for the clinical visuals. If you’re serious about getting better after an injury, make an appointment with Urban Active.

I’ve been coming to the clinic for a few months now. The staff is super friendly and understanding. I’ve had the misfortune to forget my appointment, didn’t bring money for my appointment, or miss appointment due to illness, but they are very accommodating and not super strict with policies. Jackie, their massage therapist, is especially awesome. She works deep and has kept me pain free every since I started going regularly. I even made my boyfriend to go see her whenever he injures himself.

Probably the only time I’m ever going to be happy with a person sticking their elbow into my buttcheek.
Like others, I’ve never been to a physio due in large part to laziness and the mentality that everything heals! Well imagine my surprise when I realised that while I still may have the mindset of a 16 year old every once in a while, my body certainly doesnt. One nasty fall off a rock wall, 2 chiro sessions and a space of 9 months in between dealing with a hip that cracked like a bag of smashed pretzels, I relented. On suggestion of a friend, I set up an appointment with Andrea and got in within 4 days. And wowza, she is a lifesaver. Straight to the point, thorough, professional, easy to talk to, and super human strength, she really got down to figuring out what was wrong. After the first session, I was well equipped to putting my broken body back into place with a great set of stretches and no hip pressure after being in contorted into all shapes and forms and having a rumbling machine stuck to my back.
The second session was equally as enjoyable, at least as enjoyable as being turned into a human pincushion can be. Andrea is also acupuncture certified and she’s right, you do really sleep well after a pin is stuck into your forehead. Whodda thunk?

I have been tried many different physio therapist in my last 12 years and some are good, some mediocre and rarely some excellent. Andrea in one of the few which are top notch in my books. I had a lower back pain for last 3 months. I went to see renown physio all the way in White Rock, Japanese master acupuncturist, chiropractor, IMS specialist, Visceral Therapist, had ultrasound done… all that with not much improvement to my condition and mainly not one diagnosis. I could have anything from poorly activating TVA muscle, shifted large intestine to Degenerative Disk Disease. It took Andrea about 2 min to figure out the cause of the pain. Shifted pelvis. I’m a personal trainer and I love to know more about my body and what I love the most are straight answers to what is happening to your body and how to fix it. All explained in simple terms. Now I know what happened and what to do fix it.
Great job Andrea, I’m impressed.

Time: Labour Day weekend. Event: Pirates & Faeries. Impending Doom: Faerie walks off a 2-​foot concrete drop in the dark (yes, I forgot to fly). I injured my ankle. Three doctor visits and one x-​ray later I knew I needed help. I went to Urban Active. Ask for Andrea… she rocks.
I’ve never hurt myself like this. Sprained ankle. Shifted talus bone. Actually, it was Andrea that knew the bone had shifted. She knew it without the x-​ray. She’s like an X-​Men of Physiotherapy. She even knows accupuncture.
She asks a lot of questions. She tests things out. She gives exercises. She answers any question. She offers information. She’s professional and cool. She even DJ’s in her free time. See? Cool.
I can’t imagine what I would have done without getting physio. After several sessions, my foot was doing a whole lot better. Even if I didn’t like the electrodes on my leg convulsing my muscles while I exercised them, I *knew* it was helping. I trusted her.
The princess in me hoped for a nicer space when I started but eventually I didn’t care because the care I got with Andrea was great and I complimented it by sticking to the home exercises she gave me. My foot clearly would not have healed strong and proper on its own without help & guidance. Thanks Andrea for helping me get my wings back, so to say. :)

I’m glad that I don’t have much to compare Urban Active, or Eric to, for that matter. The only times I’ve had to endure the pain of stretching out aching hamstrings, or being suction cupped to a machine, have been but twice in my life. Once over a 2 year period where I was rehabilitating after a car accident, and then most recently, dealing with a pinched nerve of some sort over this summer. Both times, I’ve been a client at Urban Active.
Eric is a mild-​mannered, funny, and nice guy who shares stretches and exercises that work for your lifestyle. What you don’t have the perfect height bed to do this quad stretch on? Try this more awkward variety that you could do against a wall that will yield similar results. Done. He’s practical!
What’s more — he seems to understand that life just keeps happening. So I don’t have to fear the wrath of judgement that comes if I haven’t done 3 sets of sloppy pushups like I’ve been asked. Fear enough is it hurting like hell when I’m pretzled, stretched and scrunched.
Eric shares his office with a massage therapist and another physiotherapist (I think). It’s a sports place, so don’t expect any bells and whistles, or spa like qualities anywhere. It’s much more of a doctor’s office — colourless. However, it is located in a beautiful heritage building on Granville.
Negatives? Being charged full price for the one time I’ve cancelled and the price of physio ($ 70 hour), but that’s pretty standard across the board. When it gets busy, you can anticipate waiting around while he attends to 1 – 2 other patients at once, extending the length of your visit. Oh, and the hickies you can end up if you’re hooked up to the suction machine (I’m sure it has a technical name, but you’ll know what I mean when it happens to you.)
I promise you Eric, I’ve been doing my stretches with my MEC purchased webbing, my supermans, planks and sloppy pushups.

I’ve never been to a physiotherapist before, but when my knee started to hurt (from the running I’ve been doing), I thought I’d better check it out. I found Urban Active in the GLBA Directory, and sent them an email. Within a couple of hours, I had a reply, with all the details I needed. I was able to get an appointment for two days later, at the time that fit my schedule.
Eric, the physiotherapist, was friendly and professional. He explained to me what he was doing, asked me relevant questions, and gave me a clear explanation of how to deal with my issues (the ones he could help me with, anyway). Examination, diagnosis and treatment — all in one session!
Armed with good advice and a stretching regimen, I was not told that I have to comeback in a couple of weeks. Rather, it was more like, «Do what I’ve told you to do, and you shouldn’t need to come back. If things are still not better, let me know.»
Superstar! Highly recommended!