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Doctors who practice sports medicine often work as part of a team that includes specialists from a wide range of disciplines. Sports medicine is a subspecialty of medicine that focuses primarily on providing treatment and care to athletes, both those who compete as "weekend warriors" and those who play sports professionally.
Although the majority of sports medicine physicians once came from the field of orthopedics, many are now trained as primary-care sports medicine specialists. These practitioners deal with diagnostics and treatment of trauma and injuries that occur during sports and exercise. They also engage in training that addresses the prevention of illness as well as injury.
In addition to their medical training, many sports medicine specialists are well versed in exercise science and understand how physiology and biomechanics relate to physical activity and body movement. Sports medicine physicians work with patients to help them achieve physical fitness.
Sports medicine physicians treat injuries in many different areas of the body. Some of the more common include ankle sprains, tendonitis, shin splints, pulled hamstring muscles, and runner's knee.
A sports medicine doctor can work with athletes at any level to develop training programs that can help avoid injury, as well as design treatment plans for rehabilitation of athletes who have sustained injuries. Sports medicine specialists affiliated with professional sports teams ensure that athletes achieve full recovery before returning to the field.
Evaluation and treatment with sports medicine specialists is covered under most health insurance plans.
For more information, vist the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine at www.amssm.org or the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine at www.aossm.org.
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