Sports Medicine Specialist

What is sports medicine?

Sports medicine refers to the medical care centering around injuries common among athletes. Whether you’re a seasoned athlete or just starting out, physical activity increases your risk for injuries. Injuries involving the feet and ankles are especially common in sports, whether they occur suddenly or develop over time because of overuse. 

While not all sports injuries come from improper foot care, improper foot care alone contributes to more than 300 ailments of the foot. Some aren’t injuries (e.g., athlete’s foot, corns and calluses) but many are. 

Before engaging in sports and exercise, you should make sure you consult a physician, get a pair of supportive shoes appropriate for your sport, and warm up. 

Gentle Foot and Ankle Care treats athletes of all levels for sports injuries involving the feet and ankles. The board-certified podiatrists evaluate your injury using imaging tests like X-rays and MRI scans before making a diagnosis and putting you on track to recovery.

What are some of the most common injuries in sports?

The team at Gentle Foot and Ankle Care frequently sees patients for foot and ankle injuries that commonly happen in sports. There are many, but here are some of the most prevalent:

Ankle sprains

Ankle sprains happen when you twist or bend your ankle in an odd direction, resulting in the overstretching or tearing of one of the supportive ligaments. They happen across many sports, including martial arts, running, and team sports such as football and basketball. 

Turf toe

Turf toe, or hyperextension of the joint at the base of the big toe, causes pain and tenderness around the joint. Although the pain tends to start out mild enough that you can finish your game or activity, continuing to place pressure on the joint aggravates the injury and makes it worse. 

Stress fractures

Stress fractures are small cracks in the surface of a bone. In sports, they often affect the bones in the forefoot including the toes and the balls of your feet. Like turf toe and other sports injuries, they worsen the more you continue to place pressure on them. 

What are my sports medicine treatment options?

Gentle Foot and Ankle Care focuses on functional rehabilitation to get you back to your sport or activity of choice after sustaining a sports injury. They offer both conservative and surgical treatment options, with conservative treatments usually being the first step. 

Your board-certified podiatrist creates an individualized care plan to treat and rehabilitate your injury. Depending on the injury and its extent, a sports medicine treatment plan might involve:

• Anti-inflammatory medications
• Immobilization
• Ice packs
• Physical therapy
• Extracorporeal shock wave treatment (ESWT)
• Foot and ankle surgery

As you recover from your injury and take part in your sports medicine treatment plan at Gentle Foot and Ankle Care, you should gradually increase your level of physical activity rather than going back to where you started right away. 

You should follow your provider’s instructions closely for returning to your sport or activity so you can do so safely. 

Find out more about sports medicine for podiatric injuries by calling Gentle Foot and Ankle Care or by scheduling your visit online today.