Physical education and sports medicine

What is physical education and sports medicine?

Physical education and sports medicine focuses on people who engage in physical exercise and how it affects their bodies. The main objective of this speciality is the prevention of injuries and illnesses caused by sports activity, as well as their treatment when they occur.

Contrary to what you may think, sports medicine does not only treat professional athletes, but also helps people who want to start exercising without putting their health at risk.

What does physical education and sports medicine study?

Physical education and sports medicine studies the effects of exercise on the human body. Doctors in this speciality focus on three main areas in order to address each of the stages involved in the practice of sports:

• Prevention: guidance on the routines to be followed to avoid injuries and improve physical condition, such as achieving good postural hygiene or having good eating habits.
• Treatment: when it has been impossible to avoid an injury, sports doctors treat it in the least invasive way possible to enable a quick recovery. The most prominent include physiotherapy, medication or intravenous procedures.
• Rehabilitation: once the injury has healed, patients are required to follow a stimulation and exercise programme to restore the affected area to its previous state.

Which patients is it for?

This speciality treats athletes and people who exercise on a regular basis, from the moment they plan to take up a sport.

Techniques, procedures and diagnostic methods

The procedures performed in sports medicine are many and varied, ranging from routine medical examinations to complex fracture repairs. High-tech medical techniques are often used to obtain the most accurate diagnosis and optimal results, including:

• Magnetic resonance: a diagnostic imaging technique that provides images of the tissues, organs and the skeletal system through the use of a magnetic field and radio waves.
• Ultrasound: a diagnostic procedure that uses high-frequency sound waves to obtain images of the body’s organs.
• Arthroscopy: a minimally invasive surgical method used for both diagnosis and treatment of joint injuries. This method involves inserting a thin tube with a small video camera on the end through a small incision.
• Ergometry: also called a stress test, this is a diagnostic test to determine the heart’s response to physical exercise.
• PRP (platelet-rich plasma) injections: treatment for cartilage, ligament or tendon injuries, in which plasma obtained from the patient’s own blood is injected to take advantage of the body’s own healing mechanisms.