The Benefits of Sports Medicine for Anyone with an Injury
Unfortunately, there is a good likelihood that at some point during your life, you will suffer some sort of sports-related injury. When you have been injured severely enough that you require physician assistance, it can be devastating and take some time before you return to full strength and mobility. However, there is something that can help anyone who has sustained an injury: sports medicine. Here are a number of benefits you can get with sports medicine when you are injured.
It Restores Your Body’s Functioning
Sports medicine rehab allows both athletes to restore the body’s functioning. Muscles become tighter and the body is weaker as bone and tendon heals, which can increase the possibility of the individual getting re-injured. Muscle imbalances develop and can alter your normal patterns of movement. With sports medicine, however, the following techniques can help to gradually restore the body’s normal function by restoring flexibility, power, endurance and strength:
- Hot or cold therapy
- Sports massage
- Therapeutic exercises/physical therapy
- Injections if more severe, including trigger point injections, PRP injections or prolotherapy. We generally do NOT recommend steroid injections for most sports injuries, as they increase the likelihood/possibility of tendon rupture and can contribute to the development of osteoporosis/osteopenia.
Prevents Risk of Re-Injury
If you are an athlete, sports medicine can help you to avoid another injury because it teaches you how to train properly and in a safer manner. As an athlete of ANY age, you can learn how to properly care for your body and know what signs to look for when your muscles are overworked or worn out and when you are teetering on the brink of an injury.
Improves Overall Performance
In addition to helping after an injury, rehabilitation that comes with sports medicine can also help you to improve your athletic performance. Perhaps you weren’t performing at your full potential before. That can occur due to poor nutrition, overtraining or not properly warming up or cooling down before and after your activity. As a result, injuries may not have healed properly in the past. However, sports medicine can improve your range of motion, flexibility and strengthen both the muscles and joints. As a result, you will certainly see an improvement in your overall performance. Furthermore, even if you are not an athlete, you can reap the rewards of better movement thanks to an improved range of motion and flexibility. Dr. Vlach is double board-certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation and sports medicine. She enjoys working with athletes of all ages and helping them reach their optimal performance potential and health.