In an ideal world, participating in sports produces only positive health benefits for participants. Unfortunately, athletes know too well that this isn’t always the case.
Every time an athlete goes into practice or steps into a competition, he or she accepts the risk of sports-related injuries. While the benefits far outweigh the risks in most sports, athletes of all abilities face the possibility of incurring an injury from sport.
On a more positive note, athletes usually have control over their injury risk. For example, an athlete who performs strengthening and stretching exercises is much less likely to get injured than an athlete who has poor strength and flexibility.
If you’re an athlete who wants to prevent or treat sports injuries, consider seeing a sports injury specialist. A sports injury specialist is a health professional who practices in the field of sports medicine, which is a branch of medicine that focuses on the prevention and treatment of sports injuries.
There are several types of sports medicine specialists, such as:
- Athletic Trainers: These specialists often work for sports teams such as high school, college, or professional teams. They act as a first line of treatment for sports injuries. They treat acute injuries and recommend seeing a sports physical therapist or other type of sports medicine specialist if the injury requires further rehabilitation.
- Chiropractors: These specialists specialize in treating sports injuries that are caused by spinal misalignment. Chiropractors will adjust and realign the spine using manual techniques or special tools. While helpful to some athletes, this treatment is more aggressive and riskier compared to other types of treatments such as sports physical therapy.
- Orthopedic Doctors/Surgeons: These specialists focus on diagnosing and treating musculoskeletal conditions such as fractures, dislocations, ligament injuries, cartilage injuries, limb and spine deformities, and sprains. Orthopedic surgeons perform surgery to treat severe musculoskeletal conditions that cannot be treated through less invasive ways such as through sports physical therapy.
- Podiatrists: Podiatrists are doctors who specialize in diagnosing and treating foot and ankle issues. Some podiatrists create custom orthotics for arch support. Podiatrists often recommend orthotics and sports physical therapy for athletes who keep experiencing foot and/or ankle injuries.
- Sports Medicine Doctors (Primary Care): These types of sports injury specialists are licensed doctors with specific training in sports medicine. They diagnose sports injuries through a physical exam that may include imaging tests such as X-rays.
- Sports Physical Therapists: Sports physical therapists are considered the go-to sports injury specialists when athletes want to prevent and heal sports injuries. These sports injury specialists focus on treating the cause of the injury with effective and safe approaches such as through targeted stretching, mobility, and strengthening exercises.
Are you dealing with a sports injury, want to prevent injuries, or want to improve your sports performance? A sports injury specialist can help you with all of that and more.
Here are five reasons why you should see a sports injury specialist:
#1: To Prevent Injuries
Why wait for an injury to happen when most sports injuries are preventable? If you’re serious about staying in the game, a sports injury specialist is the best person to help you do that.
Sports injury specialists have the certifications, knowledge, and educational background to help athletes prevent sports injuries.
They will analyze your technique, check for muscular imbalances, and assess your mobility and flexibility. They will use their assessments to help you improve your “problem areas” so that you can nip injuries in the bud.
#2: To Improve Your Technique
Certain sports injury specialists, such as athletic trainers and sports physical therapists, can help you improve your technique to maximize your sports performance and minimize your injury risk.
A sports injury specialist may look at a golfer’s swing, for example. A golfer who leads their swing with the hips instead of the arms will produce a more powerful swing and reduce their risk of certain injuries, such as golfer’s elbow and low back pain, which are caused by improper form. A sports injury specialist may suggest technique improvements and prescribe exercises for the hips that will make a correct swing feel easier.
Having a trained specialist look at your technique can help you boost your performance and avoid injuries.
#3: To Train Smarter
Sports injury specialists see it time and time again: the athlete who walks in injured, unsure of how their injury began.
Then, the athlete admits that they amped up the volume or intensity of training recently. Bingo – that’s where the injury started.
It is difficult for many athletes, especially if they are training on their own, to figure out how to train correctly. Staying overly cautious in training will put you at a standstill but adding volume and intensity too soon can sideline an athlete for weeks or months.
While sports injury specialists aren’t necessarily coaches, they do know when athletes overdo it (or don’t do enough) in training. They can help you to create a balanced training plan that will include sport-specific exercises to help you train smarter.
#4: To Get Fitter
Are you looking for ways to get stronger, faster, and better at your sport? Although sports injury specialists primarily focus on injury diagnosis, treatment, and prevention, they can help athletes get fitter through an injury treatment or prevention program.
Some types of sports injury specialists, like sports physical therapists, can provide tips and exercises to help athletes improve their overall fitness. A sports injury specialist treats fitness from an injury standpoint – the fitter you are, the less likely you are to get injured (or reinjured).
#5: To Treat Sports Injuries Once & For All (Even the Chronic Ones)
The main goal of a sports injury specialist is, of course, to treat sports injuries. The improvements you might see in your performance, strength, and fitness are just added perks in the treatment plan.
Most sports injury specialists recognize that the treatments prescribed by doctors who don’t specialize in sports are often unhelpful and can lead to chronic injuries.
For example, a primary care doctor without a sports background may suggest painkillers, injections, or “resting until the injury feels better.” These suggestions usually do not heal the injury because they focus on masking the symptoms rather than treating the cause of the injury.
Sports injury specialists, particularly sports medicine doctors and sports physical therapists, can successfully treat a variety of acute, sub-acute, and chronic sports injuries by fixing the causes of these injuries.
This means that whether you’ve had the injury for a week or years, a sports injury specialist can help you eliminate your injury for good.
Here’s a Quick Way to Get Started
Our talented team of sports injury specialists at Back In Motion Sport & Spine Physical Therapy in Fort Myers, Florida, are here to help you recover from and prevent sports injuries.