Youth and Adult Transgender Athletes: Practical Tips for  Physical Therapists

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About This Session

This lecture will start with an explanation of changes youth athletes experience when starting puberty blockers. From there, we will delve into changes athletes experience with initiation of gender-affirming estrogen and testosterone, from voice projection during team sports to temperature regulation and cramping. Next, attendees will learn about changes in athletic performance over the first four years of gender-affirming hormone therapy, and how this relates to acceptance and participation in sports. Athlete biological passports and eligibility will briefly be touched on. 

The second half of the talk focuses on specific concerns of transgender athletes: bone health and fractures, knee injuries, and chest binding. We will discuss the fascinating connections between transgender identity, neurodivergence, hypermobility, and musculoskeletal pain. Lastly, we will discuss how long COVID can further exacerbate hypermobility issues in transgender athletes. 

This presentation contains multiple slides with simple tips for immediately applying the information in the clinic.  

Learning Objectives

  1. Name at least two changes youth and adult athletes experience with initiating gender-affirming hormone therapy
  2. Quantify the timeline of performance-related metrics and describe how this relates to sports participation
  3. List at least three specific considerations when supporting transgender and gender-expansive athletes

Speaker

Ken McGee, PT, DPT, Board-Certified Women's Health Clinical Specialist (they/he) 

Ken McGee is a white, queer, transmasculine physical therapist based in Seattle. They specialize in rehabilitation for gender-affirming surgeries, and regularly lecture on a range of topics from scar massage to dilator therapy. Throughout the year, Ken teaches hands-on pelvic examination and treatment skills as a faculty member of Herman and Wallace Pelvic Rehabilitation Institute. Ken is proud to be part of the inaugural faculty for Tufts University’s Doctor of Physical Therapy program in Seattle, supporting coursework in anatomy and physical therapy fundamentals.

Outside of the clinic, Ken enjoys advocating for queer families as a birth doula and lactation educator. They also serve as a field leader for King County Explorer Search and Rescue, overseeing lost person missions, evacuations, and evidence searches. During the summer months, Ken volunteers leading patrols along the Mountains to Sound Greenway. Ken is the proud parent of two incredibly active kiddos.

Mel Kakimi, PT, DPT (they/them)

Mel Kakimi is a recent graduate of Pacific University’s DPT program and resides in Portland, OR. Passionate about health literacy and advocacy for the LGBTQIA+ community, Mel strives to create educational resources for physical therapists to better serve queer people and people of color. Their area of interests are in neurorehab, pelvic floor, and culturally humble care.