Primary care sports medicine

Are you an athlete or active person who is suffering from an injury? Do you have a chronic issue, or pain that will not go away? Do you want to optimize your athletic performance and prevent injury? If your answer is yes, primary care sports medicine may be right for you.

Just like how you visit your primary care provider to take care of your overall health, a primary care sports medicine specialist can help you address and manage non-operative musculoskeletal-related injuries or issues.

How we can help

Getting you back to living your best life is our goal, no matter your age. Our primary care sports medicine doctors specialize in treating a wide variety of injuries and conditions that you could experience from being active. From head, neck and shoulder issues to back, hip or knee pain (and many things in between), we’ve got you covered.

It’s not just athletes who can benefit

If you are active, engage in regular exercise, play school sports, are a weekend warrior or work a physically demanding job (such as a construction worker, delivery driver or landscaper), our team can help. 

To determine your specific issue, we will:

  • Complete an in-depth physical exam.
  • Use leading-edge diagnostic tools to assess your condition (including on-site X-ray).
  • Work with you to develop a treatment plan focused on the least invasive approach.

We are by your side every step of the way

We will coordinate with others on your care team if you require physical therapy or athletic training. We will oversee any conditions or medications you are taking that may impact your physical activities, even if they are not directly related to your issue. If surgery is part of your treatment plan, your specialist will refer you to an orthopedic sports medicine surgeon, who also specializes in the treatment of athletic injuries.

Meet the doctors

Our primary care sports medicine specialists are all fellowship trained in sports medicine. This means they’ve completed an additional year of training specifically in this area following their residency. We work with local high schools and professional teams and are active in our community.

Common injuries we treat

Head, neck and shoulder

  • Neck pain/injury: The cause of your neck pain could come from any part of your neck – muscles, bones, joints, tendons, ligaments or nerves. Often, the pain is from muscle strain or tension from overuse, but other injuries can also happen.
  • Rotator cuff tendonitis/impingement: Tendonitis occurs when your tendons in the rotator cuff become irritated and the bursa lining becomes inflamed.

Concussion

  • This type of traumatic brain injury, caused by a bump, blow or jolt to the head, can change the way your brain normally works and functions.

Upper extremities

  • Biceps tendonitis, tendon tear/repair: Repeated lifting, pulling, reaching or throwing can lead to tendonitis or tears in your biceps.
  • Elbow (olecranon) bursitis: Bursae are thin, slippery cushion sacs that contain lubricating fluid between the bones and soft tissues. The olecranon bursa lies below the point elbow bone. If the olecranon bursa becomes irritated and inflamed, fluid accumulates, and bursitis develops.
  • Tennis elbow: Tennis, other racquet sports and other activities can lead to what is known as “tennis elbow.” You can get this condition from overuse which causes an inflammation of the tendons joining the forearm muscles on the outside of the elbow, causing pain and tenderness.
  • Wrist sprains/tendonitis: A sprain is a ligament injury. Ligaments are a tissue band that connects your bones. The wrist has many ligaments, and a sprain occurs if your wrist is bent forcefully. Tendonitis is inflammation in a tendon or tendon covering.
  • Hand/finger sprains/dislocations: If you have a sprain, you have injured the soft tissues. A dislocation occurs when your adjoining bones in the hand and finger are displaced and no longer touch.

Lower extremities

  • Runner’s knee: This is caused by anterior knee pain syndrome, malalignment where your kneecap and thigh bone meet, and when the cartilage your kneecap softens.
  • Ankle sprain: You can get this soft-tissue injury when the ligaments connecting bones pull, stretch or tear.
  • Knee tendonitis/bursitis: You have knee bursitis when the knee bursa (thin, slippery cushion sacs between the bones and soft tissues) becomes irritated or inflamed causing fluid to accumulate.
  • Ankle/foot tendonitis: This is caused by a series of small stresses repeatedly aggravating any tendon located in or around the ankle and foot, leading to inflammation.
  • Plantar fasciitis: The strong band of tissue that supports your foot arch becomes irritated and inflamed. This is a common source of pain on the bottom of your heel.

Back and hip

  • Back pain/injury: Common back injuries include sprains and strains, herniated discs and fractured vertebrae.
  • Hip bursitis: Bursae are thin, slippery cushion sacs that contain lubricating fluid between the bones and soft tissues. You have hip bursitis when the large bursa that covers the bony part of the hip becomes irritated.

Strains, fractures and growth plate injury

  • Strains: These injuries can occur in your muscles and/or tendons from any form of exercise, even walking.
  • Fractures: You can have a complete or partial fracture or break of a bone.
  • Growth plate overuse: You have areas of developing cartilage tissue near the end of long bones, called growth plates. Because these plates are the last portions of bones to harden, they are vulnerable to injury.

Additional services

Additional services we offer that you may benefit from:

  • Musculoskeletal ultrasound: Using a non-invasive, painless ultrasound technology, your doctor can see numerous tendons, muscles and soft-tissue injury concerns. If you need cortisone injections or platelet rich plasma injections, your doctor can use ultrasound to make sure the medication is placed in the precise place you need it.
  • Platelet rich plasma (PRP) therapy: This is an injection of your own blood that has been spun down to increase the concentration of platelets. This concentrated blood has an increase in growth factors, proteins, cytokines and other bioactive molecules that initiate and regulate the basic aspects of healing. The goal is to change the inflammatory process of the joint or diseased tendon to promote proper and long-term healing.
  • Sports physicals (also known as pre-participation physical exams): We offer low-cost AIA regulation sports physical events twice per year, once prior to the end of the school year for fall athletes and a second at the end of summer break for winter and spring athletes. Need to get an exam quickly? We also offer sports physicals for all levels of sport at each of our Sports Primary Care clinics and at select HonorHealth Urgent Care Clinics.
  • HonorHealth Concussion Program: If you’ve been diagnosed with a concussion or are experiencing symptoms after a blow to the head, our program can help ensure you make a full recovery. Your concussion specialist will see you regularly to ensure you’re making progress and getting the resources you need.

Ready to make an appointment?

Schedule time with one of our specialists today.

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