Originally published April 1995
Dr Karen Holzer
Sports and exercise not only dominate the Australian lifestyle but millions of people throughout the world participate to some extent in physical activities, the spectrum ranging from occasional social involvement to full-time professional sport.
Sports medicine involves the ‘total medical care of the exercising individual’.
It includes:
- Injury prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation.
- Performance enhancement through training, nutrition and psychology.
- Management of exercise-related medical problems.
- Optimizing chronic medical conditions with regular exercise and tailoring of exercise programs to these medical conditions.
- Identifying and managing the specific needs of exercise in children, females including pregnancy and older people.
- The medical care of sporting teams and events.
- Ethical issues associated with sport including drug abuse.
In order to fully achieve the above, a team approach is required in which a number of professionals including doctors, physiotherapists, psychologists, dieticians, masseurs, podiatrists and so on, work in conjunction with the athlete and coach, each contributing their specialized skills to optimize the management of the athlete’s condition.
The ultimate aim of the sports medicine clinician is not only to diagnose and treat the injury or illness, but more importantly to identify and correct the cause of the injury or illness.
The underlying cause may be multi-factorial, therefore a broad view of the problem is required. In order o achieve accurate diagnosis, a comprehensive history is required in conjunction with clinical examination and adjunctive investigation as dictated by the history and examination. The investigation should only be performed if it is going to influence the ongoing treatment of the patient.
The treatment is bi-phasal, involving the treatment of the presenting injury or illness and correction of the predisposing cause. A combination of different forms of treatment is generally required in order to achieve optimal functional results. It is important to individualize each treatment regime, tailoring it to the specific needs of the patient. The progress of the patient in response to treatment needs to be regularly evaluated to ensure the effectiveness of the treatment and to allow modifications as required.
A good rapport not only between the clinicians and patients but also the clinicians and coach or trainer is required. This not only optimizes the treatment of the specific injury or illness but also markedly diminishes the chance of it’s recurrence as the cause may more readily be identified and preventative measures implemented.
***To see an index of all other articles click here)***
If you'd like to ask a question please e-mail me at questions@personaltraining4all.com
To receive all further posts automatically as I publish them, subscribe by e-mail
