Sports Medicine

What is sports medicine?

• Sports medicine can be defined as the branch of medicine dealing with the treatment and prevention of injuries in people involved in sports and exercises. It also helps in maintaining the health and fitness of the sportsperson by personalizing the diet and exercise regimen.
• Sports medicine deals with:
• Sports injuries
• Bones and joints disorders like frozen shoulder, ligament injury and fractures.
• Health and fitness of sportspersons with the help of diet and exercise regimen.
• Sports medicine is used to treat and prevent injuries related to tendons, ligaments, muscles and bones with the help of orthopaedic surgeons, physiotherapists, athletic trainers and nutritionists. 

Why is sports medicine needed?

• Sports medicine is needed to enhance and maintain the fitness of people involved in sports. It improves fitness by personalised diets and exercises for increasing the stamina of an athlete.
• It also helps in preventing and sports injuries due to wrong technique, trauma due to training or sports. These injuries can be serious and can lead to permanent disqualification of an athlete but due to advanced technologies, it is possible to treat them with minimum complications.
• Sports medicine also helps in regaining bones and joints functions in:
• People who exercise regularly and suffer from injuries of tendons, ligaments, muscles and bones.
• People who are immobilised for a long time due to trauma or surgery or medical illness resulting in joint immobility and musculoskeletal dystrophy.

What are the common sports injuries?

Common sports-related injuries include:

• Plantar fasciitis: Sharp pain and swelling in the bottom of the foot due to trauma to the plantar fascia (tissue that runs from the heel to toes) 
• Hamstring pull: Overextending of the muscles on the back of the thighs
• Achilles tendinitis: Swollen and painful muscles on the back of the calf of legs to heels
• Concussion: A traumatic injury to the head resulting in temporary impairing of cognitive function and causing fatigue.
• Ankle sprain: Stretching or rupturing your ankle ligaments resulting in immobility due to pain, swelling and discomfort.
• Shoulder injury
• Quadriceps strain in the outer thigh due to repeated squatting or lunging motions, resulting in an inability to walk and stand properly.
• Hip bursitis is damage or inflammation of the fluid-filled membranes that pad the hip joints
• Epicondylitis aka “tennis elbow” is the swollen and painful outer elbow joint.
• Lower back pain
• Shin splints are sharp pains caused by an improper foot arch, weak hip or abdominal muscles, swollen shin muscles, or even stress fractures and small cracks in the leg bones.
• A torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) of the knee
• Patellofemoral syndrome is caused by repeated impact or strain that can dissolve or fragment the knee cap’s cartilage resulting in painful and uncomfortable bending down movement with cracking noise.
• A groin pull is a painful condition caused by injury of muscles connecting the pelvis to upper thighs due to jumping, sprinting, and sudden movements. 

Are You Eligible for Sports Medicine?

• The patient can opt for sports medicine in case of:
• Sports or exercise injury resulting in pain, swelling and immobility 
• Joints immobility due to trauma, recovery or medical illness
• Improve the overall health and fitness 
• Musculoskeletal pain
• Consult our doctors for expert advice on the prevention and treatment of bone and joint injuries.

Why choose MEDSTAR for Sports Medicine? The MEDSTAR Advantage

At MEDSTAR our patients get the advantage of an expert and certified clinical team for sports medicine. We help our patients to get back in the game by recovering and achieving fitness. We provide the service of the latest technologies for proper diagnosis and effective treatment for the issues of patients related to sports injury and fitness.

After surgical treatment patient will be advised to:

• Wear splints or bandages and use crutches during the recovery phase as instructed by the surgeon for normal healing.
• Take prescribed medications for pain, swelling and to avoid infections.
• Follow the physical therapy as scheduled for recovery of movements.

Sports medicine treatment helps in restoring the musculoskeletal functions of the patient. The patient can notice the enhanced performance in sports or the full range of movement of the joints with reduced or minimum pain. Sports medicine helps in improving the quality of life of the patient by treating the cause of the musculoskeletal condition and its prevention.

What are the benefits of sports medicine?

Sports medicine helps with:

• Diagnosing and treating uncomfortable conditions resulting in improved athletic performance.
• Improved confidence and self-assurance
• Relief from discomfort, chronic aching, soreness, irritation, or pain interfering with personal and professional life. 
• Improved joints mobility
• Better social and psychological health
• Prevention of further sports injuries or unwanted complications of sports or exercise
• Customized care according to the needs and preferences of the patient
• Improved physical fitness.

What are the risks of sports medicine?

Sports medicine therapies are very safe, but their risks can include:

• Allergic reaction to treatment materials like medications, bandages, or local sprays.
• Relapse of the condition on returning to the normal sports or fitness routine.
• Some patients don't get satisfactory results after the treatment.
• Common side effects of burns, loss of sensation, or temporarily heightened discomfort due to physical therapy or medications
• Surgical complications of infection, swelling and bleeding in cases of orthopaedic surgery

How long will it take for me to get back to my sport or fitness routine?

Recovery time depends on the following factors:

• Severity and location of injury: The recovery time for minor injury or injury of the body part involved in minimum movements is less in comparison to major injury or moving parts of the body.
• Surgical treatment takes more recovery time
• Age, health and medical condition of the patient
• Physical therapy results

How can I recognise a sports injury?

Common symptoms of sports injury include: 

• Joint swelling, pain and immobility.
• Visible deformity or abnormal mass in arms, legs, or joints.
• Inability to fully move a joint
• Inability to stand or walk.
• Back or neck pain-especially if there is also numbness, weakness or pain 
• Dizziness or loss of consciousness after head trauma during sports

Is frozen shoulder treatable?

Yes, frozen shoulder is a treatable condition of the shoulder joint and its treatment involves management of pain and restoring the full range of motions of the shoulder joint. It can be treated by:

• Medications like NSAIDs and steroids.
• Physical therapy to recover the mobility of the shoulder joint.
• Steroid injections to decrease pain and improve shoulder mobility.
• Joint distension by injecting sterile water into the capsule of the shoulder joint to stretch the tissue and improve mobility.
• Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) uses electric current to stimulate the release of pain inhibiting molecules called endorphins or block pain impulses.
• Shoulder manipulation is performed under general anaesthesia and the shoulder joint is moved in all directions by the surgeon to lose the tightened tissue.
• Surgery for frozen shoulder is performed rarely and advised in cases of frozen shoulder showing no improvement by therapy or medications. It is also called arthroscopic surgery.

Is ACL reconstruction surgery safe?

• Yes, ACL reconstruction surgery of the damaged knee ligament is a safe procedure. In this procedure, the damaged ligament is removed and replaced by a tendon graft which provides support for the new growth of the ligament.
• Proper rehabilitation therapy also helps in normal healing and restoring the normal movements of the knee joint.
• Some rare side-effects of ACL reconstruction are:
• Infection, bleeding and swelling of the surgical site
• Damage to the adjacent structure
• Failure of the graft
• Restricted movement of knees