Is it better to stretch before or after exercise? Should I be wearing an ankle brace? If I get injured, how long should I wait before I start playing sports again?
These are just some of the questions a sports medicine doctor will help answer. Whether you’ve been playing football since before you can remember, have just taken up tennis, or simply like to workout at the gym in your free time, a sports medicine specialist will help treat and prevent injuries, as well as give you a better understanding of how to optimize your sports performance.
Treatment
Sports medicine doctors are specially trained to evaluate, diagnose, and treat athletic injuries. For example, if you have just started a new training regimen and have developed knee pain as a result, your sports medicine doctor will ask you a variety of questions on your past and present workouts, history of injuries, and more. Once your doctor evaluates and is able to diagnose the injury, you will be given recommendations for the best treatment options to aid your recovery.
Prevention
How can a doctor prevent a future injury?
First of all, the fact that you are even seeing a sports medicine specialist in the first place – that instead of ignoring your pain or letting it worsen, you are getting it evaluated – is a critical step toward prevention of further injury. Secondly, a sports medicine specialist is vital to the future of your health because he or she can sometimes identify areas of weakness before they progress into pain. By assessing your weight-bearing, body mechanics, and the overall structural health of your orthopedic system, your doctor can determine your best treatment options.
OSC offers advanced surgical care for sports injuries. To learn more, call us at (714) 221-4236.
4 Comments
Derek Mcdoogle
You mentioned that sports medicine doctors are specially trained to evaluate, diagnose, and treat athletic injuries. Do most sports medicine treatments vary depending on the severity of the injuries? My son loves to play baseball and in his game last night he tore a ligament while running the bases. Going to see a specialist might be the best option for him.
Tiffany Locke
Thanks for the information on how sports medicine doctors can evaluate and diagnose your injury to figure out which treatment option is best for your recovery. This could help you get your results as quickly as possible and ensure you fully recover. When choosing a sports medicine doctor, it would probably be a good idea to find someone that has experience with the type of injury or problem you have so that they’ll be able to figure out what’s wrong and figure out the best options for treatment.
Kyle Wayne
I like that you mention how an orthopedic specialist can diagnose the injury and be able to give you an idea of how you can recover from it. My brother was just injured playing football and is looking for help to recover. I’ll be sure to talk to him about finding a professional that can get him on his feet again.
Derek McDoogle
I like how you said that sports medicine doctors are specially trained to evaluate, diagnose, and treat athletic injuries. My cousin practices football and he had an injury so he stopped playing. I will recommend him to look for a specialist so that he can get treatment and can get back to play.