Sidelined After an Athletic Injury? How Sports Medicine Gets You Back in the Game Faster

Getting sidelined after an athletic injury is frustrating, and unfortunately, it’s something that 3.5 million Americans experience each year. While you might be tempted to push through the pain, this can delay your recovery. Likewise, waiting for your injury to heal can test your patience and be equally frustrating. Sports medicine can provide the guidance and physical therapy you need to heal and return to the game quickly and safely.

Sequoia Institute Orthopaedic Specialists has three locations throughout California ー Porterville, Reedley, and Visaliaーall of which offer sports medicine services. As orthopedic specialists who understand athletic injuries and how to get patients back in the game faster, our team wants you to know that you won’t be benched forever.

Here’s how sports medicine can get you back on your feet and back to the game you love.

Sports medicine enables early intervention

Whether you have an acute injury, such as a sprained ankle, or an overuse injury, such as tennis elbow, it’s important to remember that all injuries respond best to early intervention ーand any delayed treatment can exacerbate your symptoms. Sports medicine can help ensure your specific injury is treated as soon as possible.

Here at Sequoia Institute Orthopaedic Specialists, we regularly offer early intervention to a variety of sports injuries, including:

• Sprains and strains
• Fractures
• Concussions
• Tendonitis (knee, elbow, etc.)
• Rotator cuff injuries
• Joint dislocations
• Knee injuries
• Hip injuries
• Shin splints
• Muscle injuries
• Tendon injuries

Before recommending the proper treatment, we diagnose the type and severity of your injury through a thorough exam, a review of your symptoms, and a review of diagnostic images, such as x-rays. Once our team members have diagnosed your injury, we can recommend the appropriate early treatments, such as the RICE ーrest, ice, compression, and elevation ーprotocol. Depending on your injury type, you may also benefit from braces, splints, immobilization, or even athletic tape.

Sports medicine paves your path back to the playing field

Getting started as soon as possible with sports medicine enables our team to create an individualized plan for you to return (safely) to the game. Physical therapy, which includes specific exercises and stretches, is a big part of your recovery plan. 

Physical therapy can help you safely return to the game by reducing your risk of future injury, strengthening your affected body part, improving your range of motion, and even speeding up the healing process.

Sometimes conservative treatments aren’t enough to restore functionality and reduce pain. As a team of highly specialized board-certified orthopedic specialists, our team of providers offers surgical interventions for severe sports injuries. Using the most advanced techniques, our team repairs, reconstructs, or replaces damaged tissues. 

Individualized care for your sports injury

Finally, sports medicine helps you get back in the game faster because your care is tailored to you, your specific injury, and your specific sport. Whether you're an amateur, a weekend enthusiast, or a professional athlete, we know that each sport places different demands on your body, and we create your individualized plan with this in mind.

Sports medicine can help you return to your sport by offering early intervention and treatment, creating a set of customized exercises to improve functionality and reduce the risk of reinjury, and streamlining your path to recovery with surgical interventions, if needed.

Don’t let a sports injury keep you sidelined. To take advantage of our exceptional sports medicine services, call the location of your choice or book an appointment.