Why a Sports Medicine Specialist is Your Best Shot at Recovering from a Sports Injury

Whatever your sport of choice, your body needs to be treated with care – as you would baby the engine of a fine, expensive car! This may mean pre-game stretching and warm ups or an appropriate cool down routine to maintain peak physical condition. We all know that staying in shape requires work – but it’s a different, less enjoyable kind of work when suffering through a sports injury.

To suffer a sports injury may mean dealing with a torn ligament, a sprain or a concussion, and the road to recovery can be a long, arduous one.  Your experience of healing is unique, and so, therefore, should be the treatment you receive. Each sports injury – and every person sustaining it – is different, so the expertise of a sports medicine specialist, (one with experience treating various different sports related issues), can be applied to catering to these individual needs to get you back on the field and ready for action.

How does the treatment you receive from a sports medicine specialist differ from that of a regular family physician? Whenever you suffer an injury you should always seek medical attention rather than idly leaving the injury, merely hoping that it will get better on its own (which can ultimately lead to more pain or, if you continue to play, make an existing injury that is even worse).  Your family doctor is a logical resource when you’re in less than tip top shape, but your best shot at assertive recovery may be found at the hands of a sports medicine specialist.

Think about it this way. Your family physician treats all kinds of injuries – both sports and non-sports related. Do these require the same type of care? For example, does an individual injured in a car accident need the same treatment that a pro athlete does? The problem and end goal are not the same, so why should the treatment be?

If you are an athlete and have suffered a sports injury, your body is well served in the hands of a specialist. When a physician treats sports injuries on a daily basis their methods of treatment are based on years of experience and results for a wide spectrum of injuries.

The type of treatment you receive for any type of injury should greatly depend on what final results you’re seeking. If your level of activity pre-injury did not include great deal of sport participation, the family doctor may suffice, but if you’re an athlete, or know that your future goals include a high level of activity, consider investing in the results offered by a sports injury specialist.

For more information about sports injury treatment and recovery, contact Athletic Edge Sports Medicine by calling 416-800-0800 or visit www.aesmphysiotherapytoronto.ca