Five Things You Didn’t Know About Sports Medicine in Las Vegas, NV

Sports medicine and rehabilitation focuses on treating and preventing injuries that commonly occur in sports of all types. Athletes who complete a sports rehabilitation program are able to regain mobility and move around nimbly without pain or difficulty.

A single team of sports doctors could include athletic trainers, physical therapists, chiropractors and/or massage therapists, all of whom have the goal of treating the patient’s injuries and getting him or her back to pre-injury activities and capabilities, regardless of that patient’s athletic skill level.

With all of this in mind, here are five things you may not have known about sports medicine in Las Vegas, NV:

• A strain is a tear: There are many different types of injuries that sports medicine and rehabilitation therapists focus on, the most common of which are sprains and strains. A sprain is an injury to the ligaments that can be caused by tearing or overstretching. What many people don’t realize is that strains are actually muscle tears themselves. For some reason most people consider strains to always be minor injuries, but the fact is that any muscle tear is a strain, and there are varying degrees of severity. A severe muscle tear can keep an athlete sidelined for months, but a small one could heal within a week or two.
• Small tears are often a part of training: It might seem surprising, but in some types of athletic training, purposeful, small muscle tears are used as a way of building up long-term strength in that muscle. As these muscles stretch themselves to their limits and heal up, they’ll get strengthened. It is a particularly common approach in track and field. Athletic trainers and sports therapists can help manage this approach.
• Athletic trainers take an everyday approach to injury management: While many sports doctors and rehab specialists only work with patients who have severe injuries or need procedures, athletic trainers are unique in that they work with athletes every single day, even if they don’t have injuries. Their goal is to prevent injuries just as much as it is to diagnose, treat and rehabilitate them. These trainers are typically the first to assess sports-related injuries and refer them to other doctors. They are usually employed by teams, schools and clubs.
• Chiropractor services are becoming more popular among athletes: Chiropractors are not a traditional part of a sports medicine team. However, many rehabilitation programs today for athletes also use chiropractors who can manipulate the spine and employ various manual soft tissue techniques to help athletes recover and reach their pre-injury performance. These chiropractors also often have training in stretching and exercise.
• Your rehabilitation will focus on more than just strength: When you suffer a muscle, ligament or tendon injury, you need to focus on more than just regaining the strength of the injured body part. Your therapists will also focus on flexibility, endurance and balance. The goal is to return your muscle or ligament to at least the same level of performance it provided you before.

For more information about sports medicine in Las Vegas, NV, contact the office of Bernard Ong, M.D. today.

Categorized in: Sports Medicine

This post was written by Writer