What is sports medicine?
The science of sports or exercise science
is a branch of medicine that deals with the study of physiology,
anatomy and psychology, applying these principles and knowledge to human
movements and physical activities. Although this science is pretty
young, research in this field is quite intense and it is focused on
human body’s capacity of adaptation to various exercises or to the lack
of physical activity.
What does sports medicine do?
The main purpose of sports medicine is to
apply scientific knowledge and medical information in order to prevent,
to recognize, manage or rehabilitate various injuries caused by a
sportive life or by different recreational activities.
There are two major area of research
included in this field: the first one refers to lifestyle improvement
and the second one concerns injury prevention and recovery. Clinical
education and diagnostic and immediate care can also be considered among
sports medicine’s goals.
Although they might seem simple to
achieve, all these purposes require an entire team of professionals,
from nutritionists and sport psychologists to trainers, coaches and
researchers. Sports medicine specialists focus on medical and
therapeutic aspects of physical activities, they are trained to
diagnose, to prevent and treat injuries that occur during various
sports.
What are the most common sports injuries?
When talking about sports medicine, we
have to mention sports injuries, which are generally classified in two
main categories: traumatic and overuse injuries. First ones occur mainly
in contact sports, such as football or rugby, due to the high collision
nature of these activities. Muscle strains, fractures, bruises or head
injuries, they are all common for these sports. Traumatic injuries
involve a single blow, from a single force application, and they cause a
lot of pain to the sufferer. Overuse injuries occur due to repetitive
stress in a certain part of the body, such as knee or elbow. They are
less painful but if left untreated, they can get worse over time.
Overuse or chronic injuries include stress fractures, tendinitis
(inflammation of the tendon) and epiphysitis.
Now let's take a closer look to these
medical issues related to sports medicine. If the injury isn’t so bad
looking or painful, we might be tempted to ignore it, thinking that it
will retract by itself. Unfortunately this doesn't happen with traumatic
injuries, which are actually pretty serious. An untreated traumatic
injury can be a real threat for one’s life, especially if it starts
swelling, if the pain increases and it leads to limping, loss of
flexibility or motion ranges.
Sports medicine has to treat these
medical issues, but also to teach the sufferer how to prevent future
injuries and to help him recover properly. The first step in healing any
injury is to stop or avoid the agent that caused it or that triggers
the pain. So until the problem is solved, avoid practicing any sport or
physical activity. You may also be recommended to wear or use a
protective device, such as a wrist guard, a knee brace or some orthotic
device. And of course, you’ll have to undergo rehabilitation or physical
therapy, in order to get well sooner.
As you can see, there are lots of
interesting facts when it comes to sports medicine, the science of
diagnosing, preventing and curing sports injuries.