What is Sport & Exercise Medicine?

WHAT IS SPORT & EXERCISE MEDICINE AND WHO CAN BENEFIT

Sport & Exercise Medicine (or Sports Medicine for short) is a field of medicine that involves preventing, diagnosing and treating sports or exercise-related injuries. Other than managing injuries, Sports Medicine also uses exercise intervention to prevent and manage chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, and obesity.

In the context of an evolving medical understanding of human performance and lifestyle diseases, and advances in Sports Medicine and Science, modern man’s pursuit of competition, exercise and health has been made safer and more satisfying. Sports Medicine facilitates an active lifestyle, whether you are already active or sedentary. For the elite athlete, Sports Medicine helps you in the pursuit of excellence, pushing the boundaries of physical performance.

The Sport & Exercise Medicine team includes the Sports Physicians, Sports Orthopaedic Surgeons, Sports Physiotherapists, Sports Massage Therapists, Sports Trainers, Sports Podiatrists and Sports Scientists (Exercise Physiologist, Sports Dieticians, Strength and Conditioning Coaches, Sports BioMechanists, and Sports Psychologists).

Typically, those who seek the help of Sport and Exercise Medicine include:

• Individuals exercising recreationally, usually seek help for nagging sports injuries, and wish to return to or maintain their active lifestyles
• Corporate executives or Individuals seeking the mental edge in performance in life, sport or work
• Competitive athletes, usually see the Sports Physician for annual pre-participation screening and injury management. The objective is to safely expedite the recove​ry process, so that the athlete recovers and goes on to perform even better than before the injury
• Young athletes seeking to start a sport with the right techniques
• Individuals with chronic conditions who require treatment (e.g. obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes, coronary artery disease, fatty liver, and obstructive sleep apnea) who wish to embark on a safe exercise programme. The Sports Physician works with the doctor looking after the primary disease to devise and implement a safe and effective exercise programme, through exercise testing and prescription. Such an exercise programme controls or reverses the medical condition, thereby improving quality of life
   

Injury management forms the bulk of the Sports Physician’s work. Quick recovery and safe return to sports can be achieved through:

• Accurate diagnosis of the injury, in terms of its site and underlying pathology
• Identification of root causes, so that recurrences can be prevented (e.g. gait abnormalities, biomechanical factors, training errors, and faulty equipment)
• Intensive rehabilitation is directed towards the specific injury to enhance healing and restore function to the affected parts
• Returning the individual to his pre-injury level of activity or higher through correction of the underlying problem (e.g. via strength training)​