World Class Sports Medicine

Treating athletes over 3 decades of every caliber, from juniors, high school, amateur, college, professional, and the Olympian gives our staff a unique perspective on what does “World Class Sports Medicine” really mean?

• Careful listening to the “mechanism of injury”. Sometimes there is “no injury history” but instead symptoms the athlete is unintentionally causing themselves to their own body.   Asking the “right questions” of our athletes is key.  Sometimes the posture of the athlete in school and at home is the culprit of the “pain” on the field.
• Optimal communication of the athlete with our staff is equally important,  with clear “honest” answers to our clinical staff.    Athletes on occasion tell doctors what they “think they want to hear” simply to keep doing their sport ‘no matter what.’  Important details can be omitted ,  which is  crucial to successful understanding and resolution of the problem.

• Is the athlete part of the solution or part of the problem? We always want to keep athletes participating.  But what if, in some cases, continued participation creates a barrier to improvement?  This of course needs to be discussed.
• Differentiation of “emotional thinking” and “logical thinking”. What is best for my body so I can achieve my goals and be a ‘great athlete’.   Or are decisions based on “what I want” focus instead …..
• Our expertise includes thinking outside the box, keeping an open mind for factors that may influence why the problem is failing to improve.
• Accurate Physical Therapy Diagnosis:  Match the Diagnosis with the history and the data from the clinical examination. Does it make sense?
• Cutting Edge Treatment:  Manual therapy where appropriate, Proprioception Training, Sports Specific Training/Biomechanical analysis, and all-important strength training to enhance performance and prevention of injury again.
• Chronic Pain in Sports Medicine.  The biopsychosocial approach encompasses biological, psychological, and social factors and their complex interactions in understanding pain.2
• Special Note for Minors:  Children and teenagers often behave differently when parents are present, especially when it comes to pain.  For that reason our Physical Therapy staff may ask parents to wait in our lobby and have a summary at the end of the visit.3

DYNAMIC PROPRIOCEPTION:

We specialize in assessing and treating proprioceptive deficits. The Dynamic Proprioception Approach © was originated by Jeff Giulietti and has started to be taught to PT’s and ATC’s in 2003