About Sports Medicine

Sports medicine is an integrative field that confers countless benefits to athletes and active individual throughout the globe. Contrary to popular belief, sports medicine is not merely the formal application of specialized medical skills in the context of an exam room. Sports medicine also encompasses the individual and preventative measures that athletes must take outside of the clinic or hospital. The beauty of sports medicine is that it invites the expertise of doctors, surgeons, therapists, and homeopathic experts, alike. Furthermore, it personalizes its methods to the individual, instead of applying generalized treatments.

Reading the information below, you will learn 10 important facts about sports medicine and their critical applications to the sports industry and professional and amateur athletic.

The Importance of Sports Medicine

#1 Sports, when undertaken in an unsafe manner, heighten the chances for debilitating or degenerative disorders in youth. A sports medicine professional can provide youth with the nutritional and physical recommendations necessary to forgo degenerative diseases down the line. Purportedly, young female athletes who engage in extensive running increase their chances of developing premature arthritis and osteoporosis. Furthermore, they are more susceptible to fractures, as well. With this said, a sports medicine doctor can provide a youth athlete with a number of preventative measures to preserve their long term health and extend their athletic career.

#2 American football is a brutal, and often, dangerous sports. The blunt force exerted during this sport can expose the human body to brain trauma, and various other injuries. Concussions are an especially telling concern, and they cannot be treated as isolated incidents with no future repercussions. Every concussion that an athlete incurs affects his future in some capacity. Medical professionals understand that with every concussion comes an increased risk for Alzheimer’s, early onset dementia, and many other neurodegenerative disorders and diseases. Furthermore, the risk for suicide and depression is elevated with each successive brain injury. The role of a sports medicine doctor, in this context, is to assess the severity of an athlete’s brain injury, and determine when and if they should return to the game.

#3 Sports medicine can be undertaken as a form of exercise. In fact, the powerful effects of exercise are often likened to that of conventional medicines. This realm of sports medicine reinforces cardiovascular health and strength, and it fortifies the musculo-skeletal structure. Clients that reduce their risk for cancer, heart disease, dementia, and stroke are more likely to extend their sports careers.

#4 Sports medicine can enhance athletic performance with the aid of many resources. For example, nutritional counseling can improve muscle recovery and hypertrophy. Hypertrophy is the process by which muscles fortify and grow during periods of sleep or rest. Consistent muscle recovery and growth are required for long term performance in any sports field. During a baseball season, for example, athletes are expected to excel, in spite of playing over 120 games per year. With well over a 100 games to play annually, the relative importance of muscle recovery becomes fundamentally clear. Rapid recovery is needed to perform optimally game after game.

#5 Sports medicine professionals also participate in training program development. Athletes know that there is no one size fits all solution to training, and training must be constructed around an individual’s medical needs, physical strengths and weakness. A sports medical professional can identify these important elements, and craft an extensive training program accordingly.

#6 Sport medicines can provide key evaluations for athletes, their performance capabilities and areas of improvement.

#7 Injury management is one of the most important facets of sports medicine. With the right course of action, even a serious injury can undergo a reasonable rate of recovery and receive apt and attentive treatment. Without a sports medicine professional, a serious sports injury could literally end an athlete’s career. Quite often, injury management resources include physical therapy referrals, rehabilitation programs, as well medication or surgery if needed.

#8 Another critical element of sports medicine entails injury prevention. Injury prevention is the best way to preserve a sports career. Furthermore, it can decrease intermittent interruptions that cause an athlete’s sports season to go awry.

#9 Sports medicine integrates both conventional medical therapies, and homeopathic therapies, including massage, neurofunctional acupuncture, shiatsu massage, biofeedback, meditation and yoga, and much more.

#10 And of course, sports medicine can help identify and treat any underlying conditions that may be impairing sports performance. Athletes with medical conditions have the hopes of competing in sports by treating their conditions promptly and effectively.