Sports Medicine
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(Corner of 45th St),
Suite 525, New York, NY
info@manhattanpainrelief.com
What is sports medicine?
The science of sports or exercise science is a branch of medicine that deals with the study of physiology, anatomy and psychology, applying these principles and knowledge to human movements and physical activities. Although this science is pretty young, research in this field is quite intense and it is focused on human body’s capacity of adaptation to various exercises or to the lack of physical activity.
What does sports medicine do?
The main purpose of sports medicine is to apply scientific knowledge and medical information in order to prevent, to recognize, manage or rehabilitate various injuries caused by a sportive life or by different recreational activities.
There are two major area of research included in this field: the first one refers to lifestyle improvement and the second one concerns injury prevention and recovery. Clinical education and diagnostic and immediate care can also be considered among sports medicine’s goals.
Although they might seem simple to achieve, all these purposes require an entire team of professionals, from nutritionists and sport psychologists to trainers, coaches and researchers. Sports medicine specialists focus on medical and therapeutic aspects of physical activities, they are trained to diagnose, to prevent and treat injuries that occur during various sports.
What are the most common sports injuries?
When talking about sports medicine, we have to mention sports injuries, which are generally classified in two main categories: traumatic and overuse injuries. First ones occur mainly in contact sports, such as football or rugby, due to the high collision nature of these activities. Muscle strains, fractures, bruises or head injuries, they are all common for these sports. Traumatic injuries involve a single blow, from a single force application, and they cause a lot of pain to the sufferer. Overuse injuries occur due to repetitive stress in a certain part of the body, such as knee or elbow. They are less painful but if left untreated, they can get worse over time. Overuse or chronic injuries include stress fractures, tendinitis (inflammation of the tendon) and epiphysitis.
Now let's take a closer look to these medical issues related to sports medicine. If the injury isn’t so bad looking or painful, we might be tempted to ignore it, thinking that it will retract by itself. Unfortunately this doesn't happen with traumatic injuries, which are actually pretty serious. An untreated traumatic injury can be a real threat for one’s life, especially if it starts swelling, if the pain increases and it leads to limping, loss of flexibility or motion ranges.
Sports medicine has to treat these medical issues, but also to teach the sufferer how to prevent future injuries and to help him recover properly. The first step in healing any injury is to stop or avoid the agent that caused it or that triggers the pain. So until the problem is solved, avoid practicing any sport or physical activity. You may also be recommended to wear or use a protective device, such as a wrist guard, a knee brace or some orthotic device. And of course, you’ll have to undergo rehabilitation or physical therapy, in order to get well sooner.
As you can see, there are lots of interesting facts when it comes to sports medicine, the science of diagnosing, preventing and curing sports injuries.
The science of sports or exercise science is a branch of medicine that deals with the study of physiology, anatomy and psychology, applying these principles and knowledge to human movements and physical activities. Although this science is pretty young, research in this field is quite intense and it is focused on human body’s capacity of adaptation to various exercises or to the lack of physical activity.
What does sports medicine do?
The main purpose of sports medicine is to apply scientific knowledge and medical information in order to prevent, to recognize, manage or rehabilitate various injuries caused by a sportive life or by different recreational activities.
There are two major area of research included in this field: the first one refers to lifestyle improvement and the second one concerns injury prevention and recovery. Clinical education and diagnostic and immediate care can also be considered among sports medicine’s goals.
Although they might seem simple to achieve, all these purposes require an entire team of professionals, from nutritionists and sport psychologists to trainers, coaches and researchers. Sports medicine specialists focus on medical and therapeutic aspects of physical activities, they are trained to diagnose, to prevent and treat injuries that occur during various sports.
What are the most common sports injuries?
When talking about sports medicine, we have to mention sports injuries, which are generally classified in two main categories: traumatic and overuse injuries. First ones occur mainly in contact sports, such as football or rugby, due to the high collision nature of these activities. Muscle strains, fractures, bruises or head injuries, they are all common for these sports. Traumatic injuries involve a single blow, from a single force application, and they cause a lot of pain to the sufferer. Overuse injuries occur due to repetitive stress in a certain part of the body, such as knee or elbow. They are less painful but if left untreated, they can get worse over time. Overuse or chronic injuries include stress fractures, tendinitis (inflammation of the tendon) and epiphysitis.
Now let's take a closer look to these medical issues related to sports medicine. If the injury isn’t so bad looking or painful, we might be tempted to ignore it, thinking that it will retract by itself. Unfortunately this doesn't happen with traumatic injuries, which are actually pretty serious. An untreated traumatic injury can be a real threat for one’s life, especially if it starts swelling, if the pain increases and it leads to limping, loss of flexibility or motion ranges.
Sports medicine has to treat these medical issues, but also to teach the sufferer how to prevent future injuries and to help him recover properly. The first step in healing any injury is to stop or avoid the agent that caused it or that triggers the pain. So until the problem is solved, avoid practicing any sport or physical activity. You may also be recommended to wear or use a protective device, such as a wrist guard, a knee brace or some orthotic device. And of course, you’ll have to undergo rehabilitation or physical therapy, in order to get well sooner.
As you can see, there are lots of interesting facts when it comes to sports medicine, the science of diagnosing, preventing and curing sports injuries.