sports medicine

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The branch of medicine that deals with injuries or illnesses resulting from participation in sports and athletic activities.

A branch of medicine concerned with the effects of exercise and sports on the human body, including treatment of injuries. Sports medicine can be divided into three general areas: clinical sports medicine, sports surgery, and the physiology of exercise. Clinical sports medicine includes the prevention and treatment of athletic injuries and the design of exercise and nutrition programs for maintaining peak physical performance. Sports surgery is also concerned with the treatment of injuries from contact (human or object) sports. Exercise physiology, a growing field of sports medicine, involves the study of the body's response to physical stress. It comprises the science of fitness, the preservation of fitness, and the role of fitness in the prevention and treatment of disease.

A branch of medicine dealing with the prevention, protection, and correction of sports injuries, and the preparation of an individual for physical activity in its full range of intensity. It includes the study of the effects of different levels of exercise, training, and sport on healthy and ill people.

Originally, the main objective of sports medicine was the welfare of competitive athletes but it now encompasses treatment of anyone engaged in sport and exercise. It is becoming an increasingly important branch of medicine. More general practitioners are being trained in sports medicine than ever before. The training gives them a better understanding of the physical, physiological, and psychological demands of exercise. This helps them to diagnose sports injuries more effectively, and to prescribe the most suitable forms of exercise to improve the health of patients, for example those recovering from heart disease.

Some practitioners trained in sports medicine are employed by sports teams to help athletes improve their performance. Usually, this is by the legitimate and ethical application of their special knowledge. However, sometimes it involves the unethical use of ergogenic aids (artificial performance boosters such as drugs) which transgress the rules of sports governing bodies.

A branch of medicine that specializes in the prevention and treatment of injuries from training and participation in athletic activities. More than one million people are treated for sports injuries each year in the United States.

Sports medicine is a multidisciplinary field involving physicians, physical therapists, athletic trainers, and other health care professionals trained in diagnosis, treatment, research, education, and prevention of athletic injuries. This team of professionals works together to enable an athlete to safely return to his or her sport as soon as possible after an injury or medical problem. These professionals also participate in research activities that further the understanding of different types of injuries and the human body's reaction to these injuries. Important facets of sports medicine are the pre-participation physical and the education of athletes, coaches, and parents in conditioning techniques in an attempt to prevent injuries and help athletes of all levels reach their full potential.

(SEE ALSO: Physical Activity; Prevention; Primary Prevention)

— JOSEPH CONGENI

For more information on sports medicine, visit Britannica.com.

A branch of medicine concerned with the welfare of athletes, and deals with the science and medical treatment of those involved in sports and physical activities. The objectives of sports medicine include the prevention, protection, and correction of injuries, and the preparation of an individual for physical activity in its full range of intensity. Sports medicine includes the study of the effects of different levels of exercise, training, and sport on healthy and ill people in order to produce information useful in prevention, therapy, and rehabilitation of injuries and illness in athletes. The information is used to optimize performance in sports. Sports medicine originally dealt with medical aspects of sport and its foremost objective was the welfare of the athlete. Recently, there has been an emphasis by some practitioners on the possible contribution of medical science to improving athletic performances, sometimes at the expense of morality and ethics.

This article is about the medicinal treatment. For the House episode, see Sports Medicine (House episode).

This article is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. WikiProject Medicine or the Medicine Portal may be able to help recruit one. (November 2008)

Sports medicine specializes in preventing, diagnosing and treating injuries related to participating in sports and/or exercise, specifically the rotation or deformation of joints or muscles caused by engaging in such physical activities.

See also

• Arthroscopy
• Athletic trainer
• Augustus Thorndike
• Exercise
• Nutrition
• Overtraining
• Sports injuries
• Sports nutrition
• Sports training

References

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