Miss Sara Pirola

The Verbier Touch- Massage & Physiotherapy

Senior Physiotherapist Location: Verbier — in clinic (Rue de la Poste 23) & in chalet Languages: Italian, English, French Registered Swiss Red Cross (A9810.23) · PhysioSwiss · Italian Physio Registration Qualified BSc Physiotherapy, Università degli Studi di Brescia (2019) Sara Pirola grew up on a farmhouse in Italy surrounded by horses, hens and an olive grove, the kind of childhood that instils a particular respect for the body and what it is capable of. That respect has carried straight into her work as a physiotherapist. Seven years into her career, she has become known at The Verbier Touch for her calm, unhurried manner and her particular gift for untangling complex knee injuries, especially ACL rehabilitation, an area she has pursued with real dedication, alongside a growing specialism in running related conditions. What makes Sara's approach distinctive is that she is, in her own words, still constantly a student of the body. She is currently completing a postgraduate degree in Osteopathy in Rome on top of an already substantial list of training in acupuncture, Pilates and manual therapy, and she speaks about the autonomic nervous system and pain science with the same enthusiasm most people reserve for a favourite hobby. Patients feel this: she takes the time to explain not just what she is doing but why, so that people leave sessions understanding their own bodies a little better than when they arrived. She also, quite simply, walks the walk. Sara has completed the Patrouille des Glaciers, is currently training for Ironman 70.3 Cervia, and has provided pre and post race physiotherapy support to an athlete competing in the brutal UTMB 175km through Chamonix. When she tells a runner or a ski instructor how to pace their return to activity, it is advice drawn from her own finish lines as much as her clinical training, and it is a large part of why the resort's endurance athletes and ski instructors keep coming back to her season after season. Specialisms: ACL & knee rehabilitation Running injuries & biomechanics Ankle and foot conditions Sports injury & return to sport rehabilitation Postoperative orthopaedic rehabilitation Hip osteoarthritis · tennis elbow · back pain Pilates based rehabilitation Career highlights: Provided pre and post race physiotherapy support for an ultra endurance athlete competing in the UTMB 175km, Chamonix Ongoing physiotherapist for a competitive Spartan racer since 2022 Treats and supports a young competitive alpine ski racer through injury prevention and performance rehabilitation Regularly manages rehabilitation and injury prevention for Verbier's ski instructors Volunteer physiotherapist for intensive rehabilitation programmes for children and teenagers with motor impairments and severe disabilities, in Italy and the Netherlands Provided physiotherapy services alongside a glacier monitoring research project in the Cordillera Real, Bolivia Beyond the clinic Sara has completed over one hundred pool swimming events and around twenty open water races, and more recently has turned her attention to triathlon and trail running, most notably finishing the Patrouille des Glaciers from Arolla to Verbier. When she is not training, she is usually in the mountains hiking, ski touring or climbing, or back at her family's farmhouse, where she has followed a mostly plant based diet since she was eighteen and loves cooking vegetarian meals for family and friends. She speaks Italian, English and French, and describes herself simply as someone who has always felt happiest outdoors. In her words: "Listen to your body, it often tells you what it needs." "I take the time to understand each person, explain their condition clearly, and create an individual rehabilitation plan to help them move and feel better." FAQ What does Sara treat most often? Knee injuries, especially ACL rehabilitation, alongside running and sports injuries in active adults returning to skiing or endurance sport. Is she registered to practise in Switzerland? Yes, Swiss Red Cross (Croix Rouge A9810.23) and PhysioSwiss. What languages does she treat in? Italian, English and French