Most sports, including regular exercises, create wear and tear on your body. In some cases, you may incur a severe injury that may negatively affect your performance in sports. Learning how to take good care of your body through sports medicine enhances performance, accelerates tissue healing, and helps in re-injury prevention.
What Is Sports Medicine?
Sports medicine, also referred to as exercise medicine, deals with the treatment and prevention of fitness and sports-related injuries. Healthcare providers in this specialty have special training to restore normal body function to people who were injured during exercises or sports. They also provide essential insights about how to prevent injuries.
How Sports Medicine Will Benefit You
Sports medicine consists of a team of physicians, including physical therapists, coaches, orthopedic surgeons, trainers, and nutritionists. This team works to ensure quick recovery after an injury. Here are the three main benefits of sports medicine services:
1. They Offer Specialized Medical Care
More than 3.5 million children 14 years or younger incur sport-related injuries in the United States each year. The injuries mainly take the form of strains and sprains, significantly halting their participation in active physical activities. If you are part of these statistics, sports medicine might be of some help.
The physicians in sports medicine are specially trained to take care of athletes. These professionals understand how exercises and sports affect your body. Hence, they work closely with physical therapists and surgeons to develop a treatment plan that is tailored to address your specific health needs.
2. Re-Injury Prevention
Sports medicine physicians understand how you use your body and various moves that are likely to cause sprains, strains, and dislocation. Part of their areas of specialization is preventive care.
Since injuries occur out of particular weakness in the body, sports medicine seeks to identify areas of opportunity and provide appropriate therapy. Also, the physicians offer expert advice on how you can avoid re-injury and prevent injuries.
3. Application of Modern Injury Treatment Techniques
One of the main treatment options provided by sports medicine physicians is platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections. This method boosts your body's healing capabilities after a sports injury, even without surgery. The doctor will remove some of your blood and collect platelets from it.
The platelets are run through a centrifuge to enhance their concentration and are re-injected into your body. They then release growth factors that accelerate the healing of injured ligaments, tendons, joints, and muscles. Besides PRP, sports medicine doctors use other innovative treatment techniques, such as stem cell therapy, to promote faster healing and restore normal functioning of the injured body part.
Reach out to a professional to learn more about sports medicine.
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