What Is Orthopedic Sports Medicine?

Injuries are common when you live an active, athletic lifestyle. When these injuries occur, they not only impact your ability to enjoy your favorite activities, but they can have a long-term impact on your life if they’re not treated properly. When you suffer a sports injury, it’s critical to seek treatment from an orthopedic sports medicine physician.

Orthopedic sports medicine is a sub-specialty of the orthopedics field. It is focused on diagnosing, treating and preventing injuries and conditions impacting your musculoskeletal system that are caused by engaging in sports activities. This may include issues associated with:

• Joint pain
• Bone fractures
• Soft tissue injuries
• Muscle and ligament injuries

While orthopedic surgeons focus specifically on all issues associated with the musculoskeletal system, orthopedic sports medicine physicians are more focused on conditions associated with athletic activities. Many of these are related to the musculoskeletal system, but they may also encompass any other injury related to physical activity. In addition, orthopedic sports medicine physicians take a more holistic approach to the treatment of these conditions, with a goal of optimizing athletic performance.

What Is the Goal of Orthopedic Sports Medicine?

While the overarching goal of orthopedic sports medicine is to help athletes recover from injuries, get back to their favorite activities and optimize their performance, there are a variety of ways in which sports medicine doctors achieve these goals.

Treating injuries is important, but the ideal situation is to never suffer an injury in the first place. In order to reduce the risk of injuries, orthopedic sports medicine doctors work closely with you to provide a proactive, preventive plan that will reduce the risk of injuries. By arming you with strategies to minimize injuries and issues, orthopedic sports medicine can help keep you healthy and able to participate in your favorite activities.

In addition, orthopedic sports medicine provides strategies that will help you maximize your performance. This may involve working with you to develop specific nutrition and conditioning regimens that are tailored to the rigors and demands of your favorite activities.

When injuries occur, orthopedic sports medicine doctors provide a wide range of treatments – both surgical and nonsurgical – that help you get back to the activities you love as soon as possible. These treatments also help facilitate a full recovery so that you can participate in your favorite activities at your pre-injury level.

It’s important to understand that you don’t need to be a professional athlete to seek treatment from an orthopedic sports medicine doctor. These specialists work with anyone who lives an active lifestyle and participates in athletics on any level, including hobbyists, amateur athletes and professionals.

When Should I Visit an Orthopedic Sports Medicine Specialist?

Orthopedic sports medicine is an effective way to treat a wide range of injuries, from minor issues to serious, acute injuries. Some common conditions treated by orthopedic sports medicine include:

• Acute injuries – Acute injuries happen suddenly, and you can generally pinpoint the specific moment when they occurred. They often occur when you fall, suffer a traumatic blow or twist a joint.
• Prior injuries – If prior sports injuries weren’t treated correctly at the time they occurred, you may still find that they’re impacting your life and preventing you from reaching peak levels of performance in your favorite activities.
• Chronic pain – Chronic pain may impact your athletic performance and also make it hard to perform routine daily activities. Conditions resulting in chronic pain are often associated with sports injuries, such as when repetitive use injuries lead to the development of tendinitis.
• Degenerative conditions – Degenerative conditions develop from wear and tear on specific regions of your body and are often associated the toll rigorous activities take on you. These conditions can not only impact your athletic performance, but also result in pain that diminishes your daily quality of life.

In addition, you may want to work with an orthopedic sports medicine specialist if you’re interested in taking a proactive approach to improving your performance. Your sports medicine doctor will discuss your goals with you and help you develop specific training methods to optimize your performance moving forward.

Raising the Bar for Orthopedic Sports Medicine Care on the Western Slope

Whether you need treatment for a sports injury or are interested in learning about how you can optimize your performance and reduce your risk of injury, Colorado Advanced Orthopedics can help. Our team of orthopedic sports medicine doctors offer the most advanced treatments along the Western Slope.

We provide a wide range of services focused on the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of sports injuries. Our team can also work with you to develop a customized plan that will help you raise your performance, allowing you to maximize your enjoyment of your favorite activities. If surgery is necessary, you’ll have access to the finest orthopedic surgeons in the region. Our team of board-certified, fellowship trained orthopedic surgeons utilize the most advanced techniques and regularly achieve outcomes that exceed industry standards.

Contact us today to schedule an appointment. Colorado Advanced Orthopedics serves patients in Meeker and throughout the White River Valley.