Fields of treatment in sports medicine

Sports medicine has different focal points and covers a large field of medicine. The sports physician treats sports injuries, supervises rehabilitation and ensures prevention. He draws up nutrition plans and develops detection methods for doping.

He also investigates the influence of exercise or lack of exercise on human health and informs the general public about the importance of sports. As a medical specialist, the sports physician is responsible for the treatment of injuries and illnesses that occur during sports activities and for the prevention of sports diseases and the care of patients who are currently undergoing rehabilitation after a sports injury. The monitoring of rehabilitation is particularly important in this context, as wrong measures can possibly lead to incorrect healing processes.

Sports physicians treat diseases such as tennis elbow, which is caused by overstrain inflammation of the tissue at the bony prominence on the outside of the elbow. This can occur especially during monotonous work, such as tennis or table tennis. Bruises, strains and sprains often occur in team sports, but also in athletics and even less frequently in other sports.

These are rather “minor” injuries that heal very well and relatively quickly. The sports physician examines the painful area, detects a contusion and possibly prescribes painkillers and otherwise a lot of rest. Bone fractures are less common in sports medicine, but are usually much worse and usually require a cast.

The healing process is supported here by rehabilitation, which is monitored and possibly carried out by the sports physician himself. Fractures occur in high-risk sports, extreme and outdoor sports, and team sports. Other areas of treatment are dislocations, from which ligament and tendon injuries can develop in worse cases.

Muscle injuries also fall into this pattern. This group of injuries can be very serious and can also lead to the termination of an athlete’s career. Tendon injuries in particular last a very long time and heal poorly because the blood supply to the tendons of the human body is poor or non-existent.

The sports physician localizes the injury and develops a rehabilitation program that suits the patient/athlete and guarantees the best possible recovery. Another large field of sports medicine is the investigation of the influence of sports on the body, on sick people, as well as lack of exercise. Sport always causes a process of adaptation in the body, which can vary depending on age, gender and performance.

Which processes take place in the body is the subject of sports medicine and there are always new discoveries that change and improve training and movement.In sick people, sport can lead to an improvement in health if a sports physician has previously examined in detail which sport could improve the patient’s condition and which sport is more likely to pose a risk. Lack of exercise leads to a long-term deterioration in health and can promote the so-called widespread diseases diabetes and chronic back pain. Here it is important to prevent this development and to draw up a sports plan.

In addition, the sports physician should clearly inform the patient about the risks that a further lack of exercise entails. Thus, sports medicine can also influence the development of widespread diseases and lack of exercise and improve the general health of the population. Diseases of the cardiovascular system are also part of it and are treated by sports medicine, but above all they are also prevented.

In turn, sport itself benefits from the new findings, as new knowledge makes sport and exercise safer. The real significance of sports medicine is not the supervision of competitive sports, but preventive and health sports. This area relates to leisure and popular sports, which are growing all the time in Germany.

Health and sportiness are increasingly important factors in society. In this context, sports medicine is also constantly developing and gaining new insights. Sports medicine aims to inform people and to inspire and sensitize them to the importance of sport and exercise.

The aim should be to increase participation in sports, as well as a healthier lifestyle and a balanced diet. The positive effects that body and mind experience through sport also increase mental performance, strengthen character and inner peace and balance. Another field of sports medicine is sports nutrition.

This includes nutrition plans, dietary supplements and also illegal substances that fall under the term doping. Nutrition plans help the body to form new muscles and support the metabolism. The sports physician draws up the plan depending on the athlete’s performance, age and type of sport.

In this way, the performance level can be increased a little more. Nutritional supplements are mainly used in professional sports. Here, the aim is to support the body at the right moment through concentrated nutrients and to guarantee a better development. When it comes to doping, sports medicine tries to research the effects of illegal substances on the one hand and thus protect athletes from using them. On the other hand, sports medicine develops methods to detect doping substances and thus to restrict their use, as well as to convict doping sinners.