Diagnosis and Treatment of Sports Injuries
When managing sports injuries, our aim is to minimise your downtime and return you back to full activity quickly but safely. To achieve this, we rely on the latest diagnostics, including bedside musculoskeletal ultrasound sonography and Magnetic Resonance Imaging, to arrive at an accurate diagnosis. The most appropriate treatment is then chosen specifically for each diagnosis.

Healing the injured structure is not enough; unless we address the underlying cause, the injury is likely to recur. Our team will help you rectify the underlying cause, be it abnormal biomechanics, faulty technique / gait, unsound training methods or programmes, inappropriate equipment or training surface, inadequate recovery strategies, or nutritional deficiencies.

Sports Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation
Sports Physiotherapy is an evidence-based discipline that offers treatment modalities and rehabilitation exercises for sports injuries. Examples of treatment modalities include manual therapy (e.g. mobilisation, manipulation, deep tissue massage, proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) stretches, interferential treatment, therapeutic ultrasound, shortwave, and much more. Rehabilitation exercises are an important tool for injury management, and comprise of targeted stretches, strengthening, agility, coordination, and balance exercises.

Pre-participation Screening
Pre-participation screening (PPS), is aimed at identifying cardiovascular diseases, relevant medical conditions and musculoskeletal problems, that may be aggravated by exercise or predispose the individual to injuries and sudden death.

Depending on your risk factors, type of sport, and level of participation, PPS comprises of history taking, physical examination, and selected investigations. While not foolproof, PPS has been credited for identifying many silent conditions such as coronary artery disease, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, arrhythmogenic right ventricular dystrophy, anomalous coronary arteries, and arrhythmias.

Resting Metabolic Rate, VO2 Max, Lactate Threshold, Running Economy
Knowing your resting metabolic rate is useful in devising a customised weight loss programme; it makes the dietary and exercise prescriptions all the more accurate, leading to superior weight loss outcomes.

There are many parameters of fitness, including aerobic capacity, anaerobic capacity, flexibility, strength, power, agility, and coordination. With exercise testing, we can identify specifically where our weaknesses lie and then take corrective action to address such weaknesses and improve performance.

One parameter that is relevant to many sports, especially endurance sports, is aerobic capacity. This is usually assessed indirectly, such as the 2.4 km run which serves as a rough gauge. The most accurate means of measuring aerobic capacity is the direct VO2 max measurement. Complementing this is the determination of the lactate threshold, which further aids in fine-tuning your training programme.

To assess your running economy, your oxygen consumption is measured at various running speeds. The oxygen consumption is then plotted against the speed, and this is compared with other runners, to see who uses less oxygen for each speed. Alternatively, you can make technique and training changes to improve your running economy (e.g. through video gait analysis), and then repeat the test to see if you have managed to run more efficiently.

Video Gait Analysis
Here's a typical scenario: You suffer a lower limb or back injury, go through a period of rest and rehabilitation, recover fully, and then return to your sport only to find your injury recurring within a few weeks.
The recurrence could be due to poor running technique, which needs to be addressed.

With video gait analysis, your Sports Physician analyses your gait while you are on a treadmill and identifies the faulty biomechanics (often not obvious while standing and only manifest upon running) that contribute to your injury. The necessary corrections can then be made to help you recover faster and more completely.

Video gait analysis can also benefit those who are injury-free, such as those who wish to improve their running economy. Efficient running is an important skill to acquire in order to perform well in long distance races such as marathons.

Exercise Prescription
This service is offered in conjunction with exercise testing. Exercise testing identifies weaknesses; specific exercises or training programmes are prescribed to rectify these weaknesses and to improve / enhance performance. Individualised exercise prescriptions are also useful if you have medical problems such as coronary artery disease, chronic obstructive lung disease, diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidaemia, metabolic syndrome, fatty liver, obstructive sleep apnoea, and obesity. Our Sports Physicians will work with your doctor to customise a safe and appropriate exercise programme for you, with the aim of improving your underlying medical condition and functional capacity.

Multi-disciplinary Weight Management
This is based on the Changi Sports Medicine Centre's renowned and evidence-based weight management programme, which has benefited close to 2,000 patients to date. Our six-month programme comprises 4 doctor consultations, 5 dietician consultations, and 14 supervised gym sessions. An individualised programme based on our three pillars of dietary restriction, structured exercise, and incidental daily activities (as outlined in Dr Ben Tan's popular book, "Fight the Fat"), will be prescribed. You will be instructed on exactly what you need to do in order to shed body fat and be fit. All you need to do is to follow our instructions.

Cardiac Rehabilitation
Our Physiotherapists and Trainers will work closely with your Cardiologist to supervise you through a closely-monitored exercise programme that is aimed at controlling your risk factors and improving your functional capacity.

Clinical Pilates
Unlike general Pilates, Clinical Pilates is customised specifically for various musculoskeletal conditions and for injury prevention. Our therapists are trained specifically in clinical pilates, and our gym is well-equipped for the exercises that you need to perform.

Sports Massage
Sports massage is anatomy-based and employs various massage techniques to release trigger points (knots), relieve delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS), reduce muscle tightness, enhance recovery, and prevent injuries. It is often an integral part of injury management; why wait until an injury occurs?

Athletes should include sports massage as part of their recovery and injury-prevention strategy. During the intensive training phase, it is common for athletes to have a sports massage 2-3 times a week. This can be reduced to weekly or fortnightly during the off-season or lighter training periods.

Sports Nutrition
Athletes have specific nutritional needs, depending on their sport, training cycle, performance targets, and physique. Our dietician will help you customise your diet to meet your needs.

Sports Podiatry
The vast majority of sports involves the use of the lower limbs and as such, is particularly susceptible to injury. Our Sports Podiatrists work closely with our Sports Physicians in assessing your lower limb biomechanics, and any mal-alignment, to establish how these may contribute to your injury. The muscles and joints of the lower limb are assessed, as is your footwear and your walking and running gait.

The Sports Podiatrist uses a variety of orthotics, or splints, to influence the Biomechanics. These devices range from simple padding and wedging to supplement footwear, right through to carefully prescribed, custom-made Orthotics. Orthotic devices are specifically designed to get you back to performing at your optimum with maximum comfort.

Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy (ESWT)
This FDA-approved modality has been in use since the early 1990s for the treatment of tendon-bone lesions. Examples of such conditions include plantar fasciitis ("heel spurs"), Achilles enthesiopathy, patellar tendinosis, lateral and medial epicondylopathy (tennis and golfer's elbow, respectively), and rotator cuff tendinitis. We use focal, ultrasound-guided shock waves to stimulate the release of local growth factors in the lesion, thus facilitating the body's repair process. One course of treatment comprises two sessions, one week apart. At each session, your Sports Physician will deliver 2,000 pulses over 10 minutes. During the treatment, you will feel as if a small hammer is tapping at the lesion - it is uncomfortable, but bearable.