Sports medicine is a branch of medicine that focuses primarily on two areas:
1. Physical activity, exercise, and physical inactivity
2. Prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of sports injuries
Sports cardiology, sports orthopedics, sports surgery, and sports traumatology are of particular importance in this field.
Sports medicine specialists are important for both recreational and competitive athletes. These specialists offer a wide range of services for both groups. For example, anyone who wants to reduce health risks after a long break from training is advised to undergo a health checkup at a sports medicine clinic.
Sports medicine specialists accurately assess a patient’s fitness level and help optimize movement patterns, nutrition, and training routines.
What is sports medicine?
Sports medicine is a medical specialty that deals with the theory and practice of physical activity, training, physical inactivity, and the prevention of sports injuries. The diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of patients with sports injuries also fall within the scope of sports medicine.
Sports medicine specialists examine the importance of physical activity for health and mental and physical performance. Their focus is on both competitive and recreational athletes.
What services do sports medicine specialists offer?
The range of services provided by sports medicine specialists includes diagnostic and therapeutic services, as well as activities in the areas of rehabilitation and counseling for athletes.
Typical sports-related conditions and injuries that sports medicine physicians in private practice examine and treat include:
- Fractures
- Bruises and sprains
- Dislocations
- Strains
- Injuries to tendons, ligaments, and muscles
Sports injuries are often treated surgically in sports medicine.
Nutrition coaching at a sports medicine clinic helps athletes achieve their personal training goals. A diet tailored to the specific sport provides the energy needed for peak performance and rapid recovery during competition and training.
To identify risk factors and sports-related injuries early on, both competitive and recreational athletes should undergo a health checkup (sports medicine examination, sports check). This allows, for example, dangerous cardiovascular diseases to be detected and treated. Doctors then develop a personalized training plan.
Since athletes’ cardiovascular systems are under greater strain, examinations at a sports cardiology practice or clinic are very important.
In addition to examinations of the cardiovascular system (e.g., long-term ECG, long-term blood pressure monitoring, ultrasound examinations of the carotid arteries), sports cardiology often offers specific examination programs, such as:
- Sports fitness evaluation
- Sports medical examination or
- Marathon check
Sports surgery treats acute injuries and chronic conditions of the musculoskeletal system using both conservative and surgical methods.
The range of services offered by sports surgery includes, for example:
- Arthroscopic surgery
- Use of ligament grafts in acute and reconstructive surgery on the shoulder, elbow, knee, hand, and foot
- Surgical treatment of bone fractures and
- Joint replacement
What diagnostic services do sports medicine specialists offer?
A motion analysis uses video-assisted techniques to record movements, such as those involved in running or cycling.
This allows the sports medicine physician to:
- Optimize movement patterns
- Identify poor posture or incorrect movements, and
- Identify the causes of pain
Performance diagnostics includes sport-specific examinations and testing procedures.
These provide the sports medicine physician with information about:
- Current state of health
- The athlete’s performance level, and
- The athlete’s exercise capacity
It is a prerequisite for personalized training advice and the training program.
Lactate testing is part of performance testing. During this process, doctors measure the lactate level in the blood. Lactate reflects the athlete’s energy metabolism and energy supply. This can be particularly important for endurance athletes such as triathletes, cyclists, and runners.
Spiroergometry is also part of performance diagnostics. It measures the athlete’s respiratory gases, which in turn provide an assessment of energy metabolism and endurance capacity.
Which medical specialists focus on sports medicine?
There is currently no separate residency program specifically for sports medicine. Specialists in sports medicine typically hold board certification in cardiology, internal medicine, orthopedics, or surgery.
They then complete additional training that qualifies them to use the additional designation “Sports Medicine.”
During this additional training, the aspiring sports medicine physician must complete at least 240 hours of sports medicine-related coursework in the following areas:
- Physiology
- Internal Medicine
- Cardiology
- Surgery
- Orthopedics and
- Traumatology
In addition, future sports medicine physicians must complete at least 120 hours of sports medicine work at a sports club or similar institution.
Alternatively, physicians seeking the subspecialty certification in sports medicine must work full-time for 12 months at a sports medicine facility (clinic for sports medicine). Specialists in sports medicine often work in the fields of sports cardiology and sports surgery.