Sports medicine is a growing field. From physical therapists to orthopedic surgeons, this field of medicine focuses on understanding athletic injuries, administering the necessary treatments, and restoring active bodies to the vim and vigor they had prior to an injury.
Joseph L. Humpherys, DO, leads the orthopedic team at Rapid City Orthopedics in Rapid City, South Dakota. Dr. Humpherys has years of experience accurately diagnosing and effectively treating a variety of sports injuries and can teach you about the extensive benefits of seeking the proper treatment for your injuries.
Sports injuries happen for many reasons and aren’t exclusive to contact sports. While sports like football and hockey are known for breaking fingers and limbs, basketball and volleyball require moves that put the ACL at risk of injury. Basketball, in fact, is responsible for the greatest number of injuries in a sport. Over 170,000 people in the United States experience an injury while playing basketball.
Other causes of injuries typically seen in athletes can also occur in active people and seniors. Broken limbs, for example, a severe injury, is common in older people, as well as athletes. Car accidents and other extreme impacts can also cause injuries best treated by a sports medicine surgeon, like dislocated shoulders, sprains, and knee and hip pain.
If you’re injured, first, get safely out of the game. For most injuries, laying down is the correct next step, but either way, stop using your injured body part immediately. If you have a head injury, it might cause you to feel drowsy, but in these instances, staying awake is essential to your well-being.
After you’re out of the game, try applying ice, and elevating the area at which the injury is located. You may also consider taking an over-the-counter pain medication for pain and inflammation. If you don’t get results shortly, or if your pain is the same or worse the following day, Dr. Humpherys is a call away and can see you soon.
Sports medicine surgeons, like Dr. Humpherys, have extensive training in treating the injuries that most often affect athletes, allowing them to diagnose and suggest treatment more effectively than a general practitioner. In addition to their enhanced understanding of healing injured bodies, Dr. Humpherys also offers plenty of advice on how to prevent the same injury from happening again.
Timing is as essential as seeking treatment. While it might be tempting to put off going to a specialist, Dr. Humpherys always recommends that you come in as soon as you realize that you are injured. Left untreated, most sports injuries will exacerbate, causing permanent and irreparable damage to joints and muscles.
Dr. Humpherys often sees patients for whom conservative treatments don’t deliver results. Fortunately, he’s equipped with training for a number of procedures designed to address the root cause of your pain and treat your injury.
Dr. Humpherys prefers to start with conservative treatments, but there are many cases where conservative treatment either isn’t appropriate or doesn’t yield results. For cases like these, Dr. Humpherys uses his extensive experience as a sports medicine surgeon to correct and reconnect internal issues caused by an injury.
Your treatment plan may involve physical therapy. Physical therapy helps you regain your strength after an injury and keeps the injury from reoccurring. Physical therapy will teach you the proper way to stretch and how to care for your body after a procedure.
Sports injuries are very common, and choosing an experienced provider is the best way for your healing to be as thorough and efficient as possible. If you’ve been in pain since the last time you played your sport, you’re not alone. Dr. Humpherys and the team at Rapid City Orthopedics are here to help you get back on the team. Call 605-755-6730, or book an appointment for a consultation with us online.
