Sports Medicine - Why See a Specialist

If you enjoy participating in a good sporting event then you know the dangers of getting hurt. There is no game that is 100% injury free. They all have their risks, be it each one has a different set of risks than another. Some are more dangerous and more prone to injury than others but they all have a little something that can happen if you aren't careful. Even the most careful players still get injured from times to time. When you are injured going to a general physician is fine but you'll fair a lot better if you head to a doctor that specializes in sports medicine.

What makes a doctor that specializes in sports medicine that much better? For starters he knows more about the musculoskeletal structure than most general practitioners. He spends years after medical school learning all there is to know about how this system works and how to treat possible injuries that can happen. He has studied this. He knows what happens to muscles and bones when they are hit, a person turns wrong, or lands in a wrong position. This extra knowledge can give him the added advantage of coming up with a treatment plan that can get you back on the field in a shorter amount of time.

Doctors specializing in sports medicine have a lot of treatment options at their disposal. Sometimes, rest and ice are really the only things you can do for a sprain or pulled muscle. You have to rest the injury and he can help you learn the methods that work the best. You'll have to rehab the injury after it's healed as well and he can give you a plan that will get you back to where you were when the injury occurred quickly.

Sports medicine isn't just about treating the injuries it can also be about ensuring you are healthy enough to play. Most physical education departments or managers will require some sort of physical to prove that your body is in a condition to play the game you are interested in. This physical isn't in any way performed to purposefully exclude you from playing; it's to protect you if you aren't healthy enough to take part in that type of activity. Not only does it protect you but it also protects the school or team by sidelining you until you are healthy enough to participate.

There are lots of good reasons to see someone who specializes in sports medicine for these types of injuries. Sure there may be injuries where another specialist is called in, for example a neurologist will be called in for a head injury. That doesn't mean that these doctors are less qualified. For these types of injuries they are the most qualified physicians available.