While I treat professional athletes in my practice, the sports arenas in our society are populated by a majority of recreational and competitive (non-professional but serious) athletes. Although these people do not necessarily make a living from their activity, they nevertheless still live for that activity. That means that the care and maintenance of their bodies is critical to their well-being.

As a physician who specializes in sports medicine, I have training and experience in treating sport and exercise-related injuries. Whether an athlete is a professional or not, my task is still to diagnose, treat and help prevent injuries that occur during sports and other physical activity.

While professionals commonly deal with injuries and conditions caused by overuse, and while the injuries of other active people can be caused by overuse as well, there is a vast and growing category of active people who experience injury for a variety of other reasons. These include lack of conditioning, faulty or poor technique, improper equipment, inadequate warm-up—the list of possible causes goes on.

Pro athletes don’t hesitate to contact specialized sports medicine personnel, and are usually provided with that care to return them and/or keep them in the game. Others, however, often feel reluctant or don’t know to avail themselves of sports medicine specialists. Yet many of my non-professional athlete patients have been helped by some of the cutting-edge new techniques designed for the sports population. They are also evaluated and assisted to prevent any future problems with a personalized prescription for injury prevention.

Two populations that are particularly important to consider are the aging, active athlete and the youth athlete. Increasingly, older Americans are participating in sports. This places an emphasis on the effect of activity on bones, muscles and joints—both positive and negative. The youth population faces both the emotional and physical pressures of sports participation, and their activities must be carefully monitored on their growing bodies. Those of us who work with active people are sensitive and experienced with both of these populations.

In addition to treatment ranging from care of sprains and strains to orthopaedic damage, my practice also offers everything from orthotics to sports concussion management and exercise-induced asthma. Please visit the Services on my website, as well as the “additional services” section.