When we talk about sports injuries, the term encompasses the very specific array of injuries that commonly occur in athletes while playing sports, training or exercising. They are, of course, not limited to athletes. Landscapers can get golfer’s elbow swinging a weedeater, and gardening is famous for knee injuries from all the kneeling gardeners do.
The most common types of sports injuries are those that impact the musculoskeletal system. The reason for that is because our musculoskeletal system is the complex network of bones, ligaments, tendons and muscles that enables movement and provides our bodies with stability and balance.
At the Center for Sports & Regenerative Orthopedics, our board-certified orthopedic physicians can help you address sports-related injuries or conditions that develop with athletic activity, but our physicians also specialize in anyone who has experienced these types of injuries. So, whether you are an experienced athlete, a weekend warrior or just living your everyday life, join us as we discuss the most common sports injuries and how we treat them.
Contact us online or call (240) 754-7954 to schedule a consultation today with one of our Sports Medicine specialists at the Center for Sports & Regenerative Orthopedics to see how you can get back in the game – or just back to the life you love.
Sports injuries are generally characterized as acute or chronic. When you twist your knee, fall or take a hit, that’s an acute injury. Examples of acute injuries include:
Chronic injuries, on the other hand, usually result from an overuse injury or repetitive movement overload and develop over time. Common chronic sports injuries include:
Sprains are number one across the board, whether it’s a sprained ankle or a thumb sprain, sprains are injuries to ligaments that occur when a joint is stressed out of place by a blow or fall. After sprains, here are the injuries that consistently make the Top 10 List for common sports injuries:
Sports Medicine specialists can accurately diagnose sports injuries and conditions and provide effective treatment options – from bracing to physical therapy, medication, or surgery – to facilitate a timely return to whatever it is you love doing. There are other options, though, beyond these more conventional treatment methods. At our Center, we have had great success using innovative therapies that optimize recovery, prevention, performance and health – from trigger point injections to PRP treatments. Our Sports Medicine doctors seek out the least invasive options that give the most effective results in the shortest amount of time.
Our Sports Medicine team will utilize every possible treatment method to heal your body, restore your function and manage your pain. We know, for example, that physical therapy helps strengthen the muscles surrounding an injury, which can improve recovery outcomes. It can also be an important tool in retraining the muscles of the body to restore balance and stability. We will work to refer you to the best possible physical therapist, so you can get back to pain-free movement. We work collaboratively with therapists, surgeons or any treatment providers necessary to achieve your goals.
Our physicians are trained to not only prevent and treat injuries but also help athletes safely return to their sport after an injury and optimize future athletic performance. They offer guidance ranging from rehabilitation options and athletic training strategies to injury prevention - and even nutrition and overall health issues for their athlete and non-athlete patients alike.
Our Sports Medicine specialists have a deep understanding of how the body moves and functions, allowing them to diagnose and treat injuries based on the specific activities and root causes that led to the injury or condition in the first place. Harnessing the ability of our bodies to heal naturally is where we start.
Our innovative and minimally invasive techniques increase blood flow to the injury, which aids in healing and strengthening – at the same time drastically reducing pain levels. Our regenerative therapies – like Lipogems or PRP, for example – involve processes whereby we extract the body’s own healing agents and use them to help heal injuries. The body uses its own cells to grow new healthy tissue and repair the injury.
At the Center for Sports & Regenerative Orthopedics, here are some of the treatment methods we have successfully utilized with common sports injuries:
Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) - PRP therapy utilizes platelets obtained from your own blood that are able to kick-start a healing cascade by releasing growth factors and signaling molecules – often bringing profound healing and relief within weeks. PRP may be safer than some oral and injectable medications, since it is derived from your own blood and does not carry the side effects or drug interactions of other medicine. Your PRP will be prepared and delivered in our offices.
Bone Marrow (BMC Therapy) - Similar to PRP in its ability to harness your body's ability to heal itself through the aid of growth factors, BMC instead utilizes mesenchymal stromal cells which are contained within a patient’s own bone marrow and can be obtained from the patient’s hip bone. It is used for treatment to improve symptoms of various musculoskeletal conditions.
Prolotherapy – This non-invasive treatment method involves injecting a solution of dextrose and lidocaine into damaged or weakened ligaments, muscle tissue, and tendons to encourage inflammation. The body’s inflammatory response is thought to trigger the creation of repair cells, which help restore function and reduce pain.
Trigger Point Injections – Ultrasound technology allows us to clearly visualize areas of muscular constriction and tightness, which lead to limited mobility and pain. Ultrasound-guided injections allow our physicians to see the needle as it enters the body and ensure that the intended area is being targeted.
Dry needling - Using fine needles to treat chronic muscle pain, knots, and tender muscles, this method targets the tight, sensitive bands of muscle called myofascial trigger points. These trigger points limit your range of motion and can even cause discomfort in other parts of your body.
Microfragmented Fat™ (Lipogems) Injection - Fat has 100-500 times more reparative cells than other similar tissue in the body. Research has shown that as a person ages, the fat maintains its reparative properties, unlike similar tissue, which may lose healing capacity with age. When used in orthopedic medicine, Lipogems technology supports a healing environment to help repair, replace, reconstruct, and support damaged or injured tissues.
Spine Injections for Pain – Ultrasound technology tells us whether the pain is coming from the bone, disc, facet, joint, muscle, or connective tissue. Once the source is pinpointed, we can devise an appropriate treatment to alleviate pain and swelling in the area, creating space for healing.
Tendon or Nerve Hydrodissection – Hydrodissection injections usually use a combination of saline and an anesthetic to separate tissue areas that might be causing pain. It can be used to treat conditions, such as rotator cuff pain and/or tears, frozen shoulder, and joint pain due to muscle or tendon strain. It can also be used to relieve nerve entrapment, such as Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
Whether you are an athlete, a busy professional, or just feeling the effects of aging, we want to help you regain your strength and mobility but ultimately get you back to a pain-free life. We work with patients who are looking for natural solutions for healing and pain relief when conventional treatment options have failed or if you are trying to avoid the use of surgery or pain medication.
Let our Sports Medicine team at the Center for Sports & Regenerative Orthopedics help you recover from sports injuries and conditions that can happen to all of us in the game of life.
Call (240) 754-7954 or contact us online to set up a consultation with our Sports Medicine specialists at our offices in Alexandria, Virginia, or Waldorf, Maryland.
