Orthopedic Sports Medicine: The Key to Athletic Performance and Recovery

Being a sports fan is not an easy task. Your team can lose games, your franchise might miss out on a championship and your favorite athlete can suffer a season-ending injury. Bad things happen in sports and to athletes. In most cases, we’re talking about one and muscle injuries. These types of misfortunes can happen to any of us. That’s life. Injuries happen. The good news is that modern medicine has advanced. The levels we’re talking of today couldn’t have been imagined only a  few years ago.

Today, in the world of sports injuries do not mean the end of a career. Only two decades ago after a meniscus tear or leg break an athlete was almost doomed to end his career or to never perform at the same level again. Good examples of this are the original Ronaldo, the famed R9, and Italian legend and one of the best footballers of his generation Alessandro Del Piero, both of whom had serious knee injuries at the late end of the 90s. While both continued playing for years after the injuries neither was the same again. What could have been is the question if there was modern orthopedic sports medicine, as seen if you visit this site,  or as we know it today?

Source: marca.com

Without a doubt, history would have been different. R9 would probably win a Champions League while Del Piero would compete for the Ballon d’Or more often as it is the only trophy that has eluded him. Putting the great sportsmen aside, in the next few paragraphs we are going to focus more on orthopedic sports medicine. Below you’re going to receive our view on how it is the key to athletic performance and recovery.

Injury Prevention

The best way to cure an injury is to never have one in the first place. When you’re a professional athlete you need to be educated on sports medicine and to be surrounded by professionals in this field. Even if you suffered a prior injury knowing how to behave later on and how to take care of your body and mind alike, you will be able to prevent some of the future injuries especially those in the same area where you already had one.

Exclusive and Intensive Care

Source: utswmed.org

Not everyone is an expert in this field. Athletes usually suffer from the same exclusive group of injuries. You’ll rarely see a baseball player having a serious leg injury. On the other hand, they often suffer hand injuries. Their wrists, elbows, and shoulders are the issue. Depending on the sport an athlete participates in they need to have experts that are top of their branch in that department. This is what makes treatment and recovery much easier. In sports medicine new technologies and treatments are important. But, what’s even more perilous is the experience they accumulated during the years curing the same sort of injuries.

New Treatment Options

Orthopedic sports medicine is not a new division of medicine. But, it is one that constantly evolves. There was never a point in its development when it was stale. Also, its biggest benefit is that most treatments that come your way are effective. It wouldn’t have remained a popular branch of medicine without constant results and amazing success. Some treatments used in this department are not new, it is a case that even athletes haven’t heard of them. So, when you hear about Prolotherapy you’d think that it is a novelty in this field while it has been around for a few decades. While stem cell treatment and robotics are making huge strides in the field of orthopedic sports medicine they’re not still available. This is why people often mistake treatments such as Platelet Rich Plasma or PRP as just some future kind of cure while they are used as we speak to a great extent and with a  great track record.

Support

Source: theathletic.com

One of the most important things that a person needs during the injury recovery process is support. While having it from friends, family, and teammates is nice, you need more than that. For a full recovery, every person being an athlete or not needs professional support. A well-versed doctor in this field will be of great help. Having their support will aid an athlete to work on his recovery in the right manner. Slowly, steadily, without a rush. The goal is simple – returning to the previous form, fully healed, with an outlook of being an even better and more prepared athlete in the future. One of the best examples of this is none other than Tom Brady. Yes, the man is an outlier, but after his gruesome injury back in 2009 that made him miss the entire season, people believed that his peak is over and that he will never be the same. Well, guess what, he came back, played another full decade and then some more, and never missed a game through an injury in that period. Talk about a perfect recovery. It was his effort and dedication but he did everything in his power to surround himself with medical experts.

Improvement

Source: tricountyorthopedics.com

As we said, when it comes to athletes, it’s not only about recovery, it is about coming back stronger than ever. This is where orthopedic sports medicine steps in. They will not only help with the healing and recovery process. No, what they can also do is strengthen the weak joints, muscles, tendons, and bones. They achieve this by designing special forms of training and a dietary regime that can help any athlete to be the best version of himself. This matters the same way as successful surgery, orthopedic treatment, or care during the recovery process.

Education

As in any other sphere of life being educated on a subject is a job half done. After you suffer an injury and go through the treatment and recovery process it is important to exit it much wiser. The best way to do this is to learn through the process. All you need to do is to pay attention to everything the doctors tell you. Later on, you will not only be able to avoid the same injuries but you’ll know how to take care of yourself the best after a new one.