Get Back in the Game Through Sports Medicine

You love sports and play to win. However, all of those overhead tennis serves may have your shoulder hurting. Perhaps you were a track and field athlete in college and still love to run, but your knees are aching. As an active sports enthusiast, you can benefit greatly from forming a relationship with a medical practice that focuses on sports medicine. 

What is sports medicine?

Sports medicine goes beyond treating injuries to focus on effective training techniques and injury prevention, unlike many orthopedic practices, which put you in rehab and send you on your way. 

Board-certified orthopedic surgeon Michael Hood and his team at Delta Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine are trained not only to diagnose and treat your injuries, but also to help you prevent them. Their expertise in sports medicine can help you exercise safely to reach your sports goals so you can participate over the long term, without needless overuse or acute injuries. 

At Delta Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine, we take a holistic view of you as a sports enthusiast. For example, we take the developmental stage of your body into account; are you 11 or 51? We also evaluate the type of physical activity you engage in and the way your body moves when you play your sport to individualize your treatment. 

As an orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Hood treats acute injuries like fractures, sprains, rotator cuff tears, and dislocations; chronic injuries such as tendonitis; and overtraining syndrome. He and his physical therapists work as a team to prevent and treat your sports-related injuries. They recommend appropriate conditioning and strength-training exercises for your age and physical condition. Dr. Hood also makes return-to-play decisions.  

Overuse injuries

The good news is that the vast majority of sports injuries — 90%  — don’t require surgery. But if you’re constantly sidelined by various injuries, you’re likely motivated to find out what you can do to prevent them. 

Overuse injuries can occur more frequently as you get older if you don’t understand that your body has different limits at age 60 than it did at 30. If you’re a gray weekend warrior doing 25 burpees — dropping to the floor, extending your body, and then jumping up again — in addition to playing tennis five times a week, the activity likely played a role in your rotator cuff injury. Your team at Delta Orthopaedics can counsel you on the type of exercise that’s appropriate and safe for your age and physical condition. 

Overtraining injuries

If you’re training for a marathon or another big sports event, but you’re experiencing pain in your muscles and joints or increased incidence of minor injuries, not to mention a drop in performance, you may have overtraining syndrome. Dr. Hood and his team explain the danger of overtraining and recommend rest, recovery, hydration, massage, and cross-training as some strategies to ensure you don’t overdo it. 

Nutrition 

You might have seen the difference in your performance if you’ve rushed before a game and didn’t get a chance to eat well on the day you compete. Your team at Delta Orthopaedics helps evaluate your nutrition to ensure you can reach your sports goals. 

Are you hydrating properly during exercise? Many studies show that fluids containing carbohydrates and electrolytes help to increase endurance and performance. Eating a meal high in carbohydrates about three hours prior to exercise is ideal. Did you mistakenly eat a sugary treat before playing your sport? You may experience stomach cramps or nausea. 

Call one of our two offices of Delta Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine today to help you get back in the game. You can also use our convenient online booking to arrange your appointment, or you can send a message to Dr. Hood and the team here on our website.