What Exactly Is Sports Medicine?
Preventive care and therapeutic remedies form the mainstay of the specialized field of sports medicine. This is basically an interdisciplinary sub specialty of medicine, providing curative options to players from the amateur as well as professional groups.
The field of sports is fast gaining a competitive tone at an astounding pace. In fact, this is the main reason that the branch has assumed mammoth significance in the recent years. This holds especially true in the light of the fact that a major focus of this practice lies on the rapid recovery of patients, to facilitate minimum loss of performance and efficiency.
The core working principle of it lies in the modifications in training techniques, equipment, sports venues and rules, decisions for which generally emerge out of substantial and meaningful research and studies.
Scope of Function
Sports medicine covers a vast range of disorders and disabilities, both preventive and curative, caused due to various factors.
The scope of this field of medicine covers a vast span of specialists' branches, including the following:
* Cardiology
* Pulmonology
* Orthopedic surgery
* Exercise physiology
* Biomechanics
* Traumatology
In addition to the above, there are certain special categories of athletes that demand attention from the experts in the field of sports medicine.
These include:
* Female athletes, with eating disorders, menstrual disturbances and bone density issues
* Aging athletes
* Athletes with dermatological and endocrinological diseases
Special Concerns
Apart from the above, there are certain specific and occasional situations that require an active role from the sports medicine specialists.
Here we've listed some of the most crucial ones amongst these issues:
* Issues emerging from international sporting events, such as travel and acclimatization
* Use of pharmacologic supplements
* Substance abuse
* Gender verification
The Profession
An increasing number of medical professionals are now opting for specialization in the field of sports medicine.
Professionals who aspire to gain specialization first need to begin with a primary residency program in one of the following areas:
* Family practice
* Internal medicine
* Emergency medicine
* Pediatrics
* Physical medicine
* Rehabilitation
The above is then required to be followed by one or two years of additional training, through accredited fellowship programs. Depending upon the basic eligibility criteria, some professionals are then allowed to appear for a sub specialty qualification examination in the field.
The Future Scenario
There have been a vast series of studies and estimations being conducted to gauge the future of sports medicine as a means to enhance performance and reduce ailments.
The majority of such analysis points towards the possibility that this is likely to play a highly crucial and effective role in prevention of sports-related injury. The most prominent aspect of research that looks into the application of this branch of this medicine in prevention is the study of the body's neuromuscular adaptations.
Overall, further developments in sports medicine are likely to ensure safe physical activity, while augmenting the performance levels to a considerable extent.
