When treating sports injuries, the main focus is to get the athlete back on the field as quickly as possible while maintaining the same level of fitness as before the injury occurred.

In pursuit of these goals, both conventional and alternative methods have been regularly used by physicians with varying degrees of success.

Sports medicine research has recently identified important roles for complementary and alternative medicine, commonly referred to as integrative medicine. Integrative medicine is now widely recognized as a value added strategy for treating sports injuries.

What Is Integrative Medicine?

Integrative medicine combines a variety of conventional medicine techniques with specific aspects of your body’s natural ability to heal itself. This enables doctors to use an evidence-based approach to treat injuries by looking at the patient as a whole.

According to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, integrative medicine focuses on conventional medical care and complementary therapies as well as the following aspects of your body:

• Mind, body, and soul
• Physical nature of the injury
• Emotional state
• Mental and spiritual needs

Integrative Medicine vs. Conventional Medicine

Conventional medicine relies on “appropriate therapies” according to science, such as medication, physiotherapy, rehabilitation, and psychotherapy. On the other hand, when it comes to integrative medicine, physicians use healing-oriented medicine, such as yoga and acupuncture.

While the two are different, integrative medicine doesn’t completely reject conventional medicine. Integrative medicine seeks to deal with sports injury-related issues, such as chronic pain management, bringing together all the factors that influence recovery, for example:

• The nature of the sports injury
• Health history of the patient (any chronic diseases?)
• The overall health of the whole person
• Environmental factors that may influence health and recovery
• Nutritional habits
• Stressors, both physical and mental
• Training, participation and recovery protocols
• Social support structure

Complementary and Integrative Health Care for Sports Injuries

Positive results are fueling the growing interest of athletes to seek integrative medicine providers to treat sports injuries. The desire of informed consumers to avoid or reduce the lingering side effects of conventional therapies has also spurred the evolution of alternative medicine.

Types of Integrative Medicine Therapies

Integrative or functional medicine seeks to promote healthy behaviors, help the physical body attain optimal health, and aid in the recovery of athletes suffering from sports injuries using the following techniques:

• Yoga
• Acupuncture or dry needling
• Sports massage therapy by qualified massage therapists
• Chiropractic therapy
• Chinese herbal therapy
• Holistic psychotherapy
• Guided imagery to optimize success
• Culinary medicine and nutrition counseling
• Reiki
• Tai chi and other forms of movement therapy
• Laboratory studies to identify deficiencies and or toxicities.

Benefits and Risks of Integrative Medicine

When done by qualified healthcare providers and health professionals, functional medicine promotes a reduction in stress, better levels of relaxation, and quicker recovery from sports injuries.

However, while there are no major risks associated with integrative medicine, it should be noted that this is not meant to replace conventional techniques entirely but to complement them. It is a personalized approach to healing that should be supervised by qualified health practitioners.

Improve the Healing Process for Your Sports Injury Using Alternative Therapies

If you are looking for good medicine alternative therapies to help sports injuries heal faster, reduce stress, promote self-development, and provide a better sense of well-being, try integrative medicine at Spine Technology and Rehabilitation.

The post Looking for Alternative Medicine for a Sports Injury? Integrative Medicine Could Be the Solution! appeared first on Spine Technology Pain Management Fort Wayne.

In this blog you will learn:

• What the field of sports medicine is,
• How sports doctors may approach injuries differently than your other doctors,
• How the sports medicine team approach to your injury can help you,
• What you should expect from a good sports medicine team, and

When you should seek the help of a sports medicine doctor.

What is sports medicine?

Sports medicine is the field of healthcare focused on the prevention and treatment of injuries related to athletic activities. Sports medicine physicians often work with a team of allied health care workers to provide comprehensive treatment, ranging from lifestyle considerations (e.g. proper nutrition, conditioning, mental preparedness, injury prevention and cross training) to minimally invasive and surgical approaches to injuries.

Does a sports medicine doctor treat injuries differently than my regular doctors?

Yes, they do so primarily by using a “sport-specific” approach. Each sport has its own unique demands upon our body’s structural integrity. For example, some sports like powerlifting, football and golf impose tremendous loads on the spine, creating a high incidence of low back injuries. Others such as Olympic weightlifting, swimming and gymnastics subject the shoulder to great torsional strain, explaining the associated high incidence of shoulder injuries. In many cases, the key to both injury prevention and treatment is understanding how each sport activity is optimally performed. The sports-specific biomechanics inform the physician which areas of the body undergo the greatest stress concentration with each activity, as well as what the potential pitfalls are with faulty mechanics or movement patterns. In other words your doctors, trainers and physical therapists need to be familiar with the sports related mechanics and required movement patterns, in order to really understand your injury.

How Can the Sports Medicine Approach Help Me?

The spectrum of sports-specific knowledge and related medical care helps your sports healthcare team to provide you with the best possible:

• treatment outcome,
• opportunity to understand all possible treatment options,
• team approach to boost your performance following the treatment protocol,
• prevention protocol to guard against re-injury,
• measures to ensure against long term dependence on unnecessary medications or surgeries,
• evaluation of any possible equipment related injury factors,
• nutritional and lifestyle advice.

A good sports medicine team also understands that each sport has its own unique needs, such as the specifics of scheduling demands and recovery time. In other words, they don’t simply see your injury as another sprain, strain or broken bone. They place your injury in the overall context of the individual needs of your sport and lifestyle.

When should I be referred to a sports medicine doctor?

• You are concerned about returning to athletic endeavors without injury reoccurrence.

• You would like to be able to perform your sports activities at a higher level without pain.
• You wish to ensure against long term dependence on unnecessary medications or surgeries.
• You would like to understand all possible treatment options.

• Your response to routine, conservative treatment has been poor or inadequate.
• Your capacity to function at home, community, work or sports remains hampered.
• You have undergone multiple treatment attempts and your providers have been unable to provide an adequate explanation of your condition and/or the basis of treatment failures.
• You reach a point of diminishing returns after undergoing the same treatment multiple times.
• Your case is complicated by other medical conditions, intense work or family demands.

What can I expect from my sports medicine doctor?

An axiom of sports medicine is that in order to consistently achieve good outcomes treatment needs to be predicated on the cause.

Specifically, your sports healthcare team should:

• understand the mechanism which caused your injury,
• do the necessary detective work to reveal the smoking gun, or anatomically specific diagnosis,
• provide targeted, expeditious treatment based on the precise diagnosis.

Consider that a delay in diagnosis may often unnecessarily prolong treatment and recovery time; leading to a suboptimal outcome. Goal oriented sports medicine is focused on rapidly establishing a diagnosis to allow the best possible treatment results including: resolution of pain, optimizing function and preventing reinjury. This combination ensures the quickest and safest return to play.

Summary

If you have a sports condition which is preventing you from performing optimally, consider the unique benefits that a proper sports medicine team approach can have on your outcome.

STAR SPINE TECHNOLOGY AND REHABILITATION

9502 Lima Road #103,  Fort Wayne, IN 46818

260-459-7313

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Arthritis is a common condition that affects around 15% of the UK population. This equates to around 10 million people. For some people, it comes as a part of getting older. But does this have to be the case?

There is no cure for arthritis. So the only option is to treat the symptoms. The main symptoms include pain, tenderness, stiffness, and inflammation in the joints. Different people will experience different symptoms. And these can vary throughout life.

So, what can be done about these symptoms?

The post Living With Arthritis: Can Diet Help Improve Symptoms? appeared first on Spine Technology Pain Management Fort Wayne.

According to recent data from the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) roughly 8.6 million sports injuries occur each year. If your injury represents one of these statistics, you’re probably wondering what your treatment options might be. In this guide, Spine Technology and Rehabilitation in Fort Wayne Indiana is pleased to provide you with some basic guidelines. Guidelines which promise to ensure that you understand enough about proper treatment of sports injuries to be your own best advocate.

In this guide you will learn:

• When to seek medical advice for a sports injury,
• What your doctor should know to properly treat your sports injury,
• What a comprehensive sports injury evaluation consists of,
• What treatment you should expect from your sports medicine team.
• Some common types of sports injuries,
• Why each sport is prone to specific injuries,
• The basic factors which drive your doctor’s treatment decision

When should I seek medical attention for a sports injury?

Many common, acute sports injuries can initially be addressed by applying the PRICE method. Specifically:

• Protect the injured area from further damage (e.g. splint, tape, crutch)
• Restrict activity which is offensive to the injury
• Ice (20 minutes on 20 minutes off the injured area)
• Compression (this can be done manually by your physical therapist for fluid mobilization, by a mechanical device or by applying an elastic bandage)
• Elevation

Steps 3, 4, and 5 are combined to decrease swelling and inflammation.

You should seek medical attention if:

• there are any signs of bleeding or infection, including refractory drainage from a wound
• discoloration beyond mild bruising and excess swelling or pressure sensation
• loss of strength or loss of sensation
• impaired weight bearing on the affected limb
• deformity of the injured body part  
• failure to respond to the PRICE method within a few days.

What should my doctor know about my sport in order to properly treat my sports injury?

Your doctor should at least know enough about your sport to establish the proper diagnosis or cause of your symptoms.  Each sport has its own unique demands upon our body’s structural integrity. One key to evaluating a given sports injury lies in understanding the sport and the sport specific mechanics that causes the injury. Consider that the biomechanics of your sport inform the physician which areas of the body undergo the greatest stress concentration with each activity, as well as what the potential pitfalls are with faulty mechanics or movement patterns. In other words your doctors, trainers and physical therapists need to be familiar with the sports related mechanics and required movement patterns, in order to really understand your injury. That knowledge helps your team to provide you with the best possible treatment outcome, as well as to boost your performance and avoid re-injury. In addition to performance and prevention factors, sports medicine addresses other vital sports-specific issues such as scheduling demands, recovery time, equipment and nutritional requirements.

The post Sports Injury Treatment: Your 2021 Guide to Getting Back in the Game appeared first on Spine Technology Pain Management Fort Wayne.

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How Do I Choose the Best Pain Management Physician? Your Step by Step 2021 Guide

What is a Pain Management Specialist?

A pain management specialist is defined as a physician who is trained in the evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment of different types of pain (including chronic pain, acute pain, and cancer pain). A pain management specialist first determines the source of pain and then develops a systematic treatment plan to relieve, reduce, or manage pain. They help patients return to function in everyday activities (including work and sports) without surgery or heavy reliance on medication. 

So please check to ensure that the doctor is board certified in pain management and has had fellowship training specifically in pain management. A fellowship is additional specialized training after residency and medical school. Board certification is evidence that the doctor has been tested to demonstrate their competence.

What Kinds of Doctors Become Pain Specialists?

Four specialty fields of medicine qualify to take the pain management board certification. They include:

• Physical medicine and rehabilitation
• Anesthesiology
• Neurology
• Psychiatry

Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation doctors or “Physiatrists” are medical physicians who focus on making proper diagnosis and optimally restoring patients capacity to function at home, work, community and sporting arenas.  Consequently, you may wish to seek the help of a Physiatrist or Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation doctor with specialty training in pain management if:

• You are concerned about returning to work without getting re-injured.
• You are concerned about returning to athletic endeavors without injury reoccurrence.
• You would like to be able to perform your household chores without getting re-injured.
• You wish to ensure against long term dependence on unnecessary medications or surgeries.
• You are considering seeking disability for a chronic pain condition, but would first like to understand all possible treatment options.

 

How Do I Get Referred to a Pain Specialist?

Your primary care physician may be able to refer you to a good pain management specialist within your insurance network — although many pain management physicians accept patients without a referral from another physician. Word-of-mouth referrals (from family members or friends who know good pain management doctors) are common. They provide a level of comfort with the doctor, since a loved one or close acquaintance recommended them.

Determining Who is the Right Pain Doctor for You

Online searches reveal numerous pain physicians, who seemingly offer similar services. How can you determine who is trustworthy and experienced? Here is a list of questions and information to help you find the best pain management physician in your area:

How does the doctor rate? Do an online survey to determine which pain specialists have high ratings and positive patient feedback. Also, with the number of people suffering with chronic pain, odds are you have friends and family members who will be able to give you a first-hand word-of-mouth recommendation.

How much time do they spend with you on your initial examination? It may take up to two hours to thoroughly perform an initial assessment on a patient with a complex pain disorder. Consequently, if they typically finish new patient consultations in 15 minutes to a half hour, you probably are going to be disappointed with their approach. In other words, you are probably seeking integrity, dedication and empathy versus Wham! — Bam! –Thank you Ma’am!

Does the doctor take an inter-disciplinary approach? In other words:

• Do they work with a team of experts (e. g. nurses, therapists, lifestyle experts and other physicians)?
• Are they concerned with your overall state of health or quality of life as a whole person? You can discern this by their focus during the examination.
• Do they ask about your capacity to cope with your disability emotionally, as well as physically?
• Do they examine your whole body as well as how you function (e. g. your gait pattern/walking) or is their sole focus on just one body part, medications and/or procedures?

How diverse are the doctors skills? The best pain management doctors use a multimodal approach, and have wide ranging skills in both diagnosing and treating a wide array of painful disorders. Their skill set should include:

• Imaging studies (e.g. CT, MRI and ultrasound),
• Image-guided procedures (navigating needles catheters and probes with fluoroscopy and ultrasound to determine the cause of pain or to provide relief),
• Nerve function tests (e. g. EMG),
• Physical therapy to improve function, psychotherapy to improve coping skills, and
• Lifestyle changes (like nutritional and exercise programs) to maintain your overall health, and
• Knowledge of pain medications. The best pain management physicians do not use medications as a primary management tool. Rather they generally judiciously employ them as a secondary means to assist you until they can diagnose and treat your condition.

 

Does the doctor have experience treating your particular condition? Some pain management physicians are specialized in a certain type of pain treatment. Others provide highly specialized treatments for a wide range of disorders; suggesting that you should research all the services. You could be wasting your time if the physician does not have adequate knowledge about your condition. For example, many pain management physicians have little experience treating craniofacial pain (like trigeminal neuralgia or temporomandibular joint dysfunction). Others do not have much to offer for patients suffering from pelvic pain or coccydynia (tailbone pain).

Is the doctor recognized by their peers as an expert? In other words, physicians who are extensively published in the world peer-review literature and have received endowed academic lectureships and awards are more likely to be on the cutting edge of their specialty. Arguably, they are less likely to be engaged in desperate and suspect practices, such as inappropriate prescribing of pain medications.

Does the doctor accept your insurance coverage? This seems pretty straightforward, but not all physician’s offices accept all insurance plans. Out of network plans may also vary. So do your homework on this part of it.

What Covid guidelines do they have in place? The office should be able to articulate their coronavirus plan, commensurate with the CDC guidelines including social distancing, mask wearing and sanitary practices.

Finally, when you call the physician’s office does the staff pass the “sniff test”?

• Are you greeted with a warm, friendly and welcoming voice by front desk staff members?
• Do they have some knowledge of your condition, suggesting that they are well trained?
• Does the doctor spend more than 15 to 20 minutes evaluating new patients? It can take up to two hours to thoroughly evaluate a new patient with a complex chronic pain problem, particularly if they have undergone multiple diagnostic studies and treatment interventions. All of this history has to be poured over and placed into context, in order for your physician to begin to understand how to approach your condition from a detective standpoint. There is no getting around it no matter how smart and efficient they might purport to be. It’s impossible to summarize myriad records and conduct a thorough history and physical examination in 15 to 20 minutes.
• Are they systematic in their presentation? For example, inquire what the scheduling process entails. If they give you an orderly response this suggests an organized clinic. The front desk staff should be able to give you information about your insurance coverage as well. You don’t want a pushy sales job, but you do want staff personnel who are confident in themselves and their physicians they work for. If your condition is unusual or rare you may want to ask to speak to the nurse.
• Is the nurse forthcoming with additional information to bolster your confidence in the overall practice and the quality of the physicians as well as other allied healthcare providers?
• Does the nurse give you a solid understanding of how the physician would approach your problem and the potential realm of diagnostic and treatment modalities they have to offer?

Summary

Finding the optimal pain management specialist for your condition is like investigating an important purchase, except in this case the quality of your life literally depends on it. Do your homework. Get reviews from your loved ones, friends and online community and make sure you feel comfortable with them. Choosing the right pain management specialist will guard against long-term medication dependence or failed surgeries – undoubtedly, benefitting you in the long run. All the best!

The post How Do I Choose the Best Pain Management Physician? Your Step by Step 2021 Guide appeared first on Spine Technology Pain Management Fort Wayne.