Damien Wild

Physical activity has always been a passion for Damien as a means of personal growth, stress release, and developing and maintaining relationships. This joy derived from sport and activity is what inspires him to strive to assist anyone who truly wants to improve themselves and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

With a previous background in research in Exercise Physiology, Damien's diverse career path has let him enjoy exercise testing and prescription for multiple athletic teams and clubs including the Edmonton Oilers and various Olympic level athletes. He was also a part of the team responsible for revamping the standards utilized by the Department of National Defence (DND) firefighters for entry and yearly recertification as well as the development of the practical components of testing protocols used by several municipal fire departments across Western Canada.This extensive testing and research lead to him to taking on the lead role in the development and implementation of the East Central Health region's first community based cardiac rehab program followed by 3 years of full time work as a firefighter in the oil sands while concurrently running the physio department. This intimate understanding of high performance athletes, Fire and EMS personnel and an aging population with a lust for life make him an ideal candidate to continue to work with those individuals as a physiotherapist.

As an avid participant in numerous contact sports and intense resistance training, Damien's first exposure to physio, like a lot of athletes, was as a patient. The remarkable healing qualities he experienced with acupuncture inspired him to quickly pursue the Medical Acupuncture Program through the University of Alberta after graduating from physio. Further developing his skills through the addition of Gokavi dry needling and continuous education in manual therapy and therapeutic exercise allows for different levels of treatment based on patient needs and desire.

With knowledge comes power! Damien believes that understanding your injury is invaluable to the healing process. When a patient understands their injury and why they are doing what they are doing, they get to be a more active team member in their own recovery. It is incredibly important that the patient is aware of why treatment of different areas is being done so they can understand their injury and take appropriate measures to prevent reoccurrence and work towards a speedy recovery and renewed balance of the person as a whole.