Sports Medicine 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 and Exercise Medicine (or Sports Medicine for short) facilitates an active lifestyle, whether you are already active or sedentary, but you want to become more active. For the elite athlete, Sports Medicine helps you in the pursuit of excellence, pushing the boundaries of physical performance.

The Sports 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).

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), diagnostic bedside musculoskeletal ultrasound, video gait analysis, ultrasound-guided procedures, and extra corporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) are just some of the technologies commonly used by Sports Physicians for diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring.

Typically, those who seek the help of Sports Medicine include:
• Individuals exercising recreationally, usually seek help for nagging sports injuries, and wish to return to or maintain their active    lifestyles
• Competitive athletes, usually see the Sports Physician for annual pre-participation screening and injury management. The objective is    to safely expedite the recovery process, so that the athlete recovers and goes on to perform even better than before the injury
• Sedentary individuals with chronic diseases (e.g. obesity, hypertension, dyslipidaemia, diabetes, coronary artery disease, fatty    liver, and obstructive sleep apnoea) 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)