Dr. Elliot Smithson

PT, DPT, MS, ATC, EMT · Cofounder

Dr. Elliot Smithson earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Central Florida in Athletic Training, his Master's from Marshall University in Athletic Training, and his doctorate in Physical Therapy from the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences.

That academic path gave him a uniquely hands-on lens for understanding how repetitive strain injuries develop and progress, and his focus on RSI started early. During his Master's program at Marshall University, Elliot worked extensively with musicians dealing with overuse injuries, the same tendinopathies, nerve entrapments, and load management challenges at the core of 1HP's work today. That research culminated in a peer-reviewed publication in the Journal of Medical Problems of Performing Artists: Effect of Arm Position on Width of the Subacromial Space of Upper String Musicians (2017). Musicians are a population that gets dismissed constantly by the healthcare system, and that work shaped how Elliot approaches RSI in anyone whose hands are their livelihood or passion.

From there, Elliot spent years working in sports and entertainment medicine before moving into esports in 2019, where the RSI problem was impossible to ignore. Competitive players are essentially high-performance athletes performing millions of repetitive movements with almost no structured support for the injuries that follow. He has worked directly with some of the most prominent organizations in competitive gaming, including Team Liquid, Counter Logic Gaming, Immortals Gaming, FlyQuest, and 100 Thieves, building the kind of evidence-based health and performance programming that elite esports athletes actually need. In 2023, he co-presented Experiences of Professional Esports Athletes in Physical Therapy for Injury Management at the APTA Combined Sections Meeting, one of the first formal looks at how pro players navigate injury care. He also co-authored Game Strong: The Science of Esports Physical Therapy, published by McGraw Hill in 2025. Elliot also runs an outpatient sports therapy clinic in Beverly Hills.

As 1HP began offering online consultations to the broader gaming community, a clear pattern emerged. Many of the people reaching out were not just competitive gamers but software engineers, programmers, and other STEM professionals who happened to game as a hobby. They were arriving with the same wrist and hand injuries, the same stories of being dismissed by their doctors, and the same lack of answers. The medical system had failed them in the same way it had failed musicians and esports athletes for years.

That realization deepened Elliot's understanding of the broader pain science at play. RSI does not discriminate by profession, and the gap in specialized care was far larger than esports alone. It drove him and Matt to build out 1HP's online coaching platform, an evidence-based system designed to meet people where they are and give them a real path to recovery, regardless of whether their doctor had taken their pain seriously. For Elliot, it all connects back to the same thread that has run through his entire career: the people who use their hands the most are often the ones the healthcare system understands the least, and that is exactly the gap 1HP exists to fill.

Credentials

• Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT)
• Master of Science in Athletic Training (MS)
• Physical Therapist (PT)
• Certified Athletic Trainer (ATC)
• Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)
• University of Central Florida
• Marshall University
• University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences

Dr. Elliot Smithson on LinkedIn

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