Sports Medicine Primary Care and Rehabilitation
Many sports-related injuries and performance issues can be managed without surgery. Sports medicine and rehabilitation physicians at the NewYork-Presbyterian Sports Performance understand your desire to get back to the activities you love, and use the latest diagnostic tools and nonsurgical treatments to help you achieve your personal best.
In-Office Diagnostic and Interventional Musculoskeletal Ultrasound
Our sports medicine and rehabilitation physicians utilize diagnostic musculoskeletal ultrasound during your office visit to identify disorders and injuries of bone, muscle, tendon, ligaments, joints, nerve entrapments, and other causes of discomfort at the point of care. Doctors also use ultrasound to safely guide the precise placement of medications to relieve pain and inflammation, and to determine the origin of your pain.
Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation
Since an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, sports medicine and rehabilitation physicians perform examinations and functional tests to see how you move and to understand why you might have sustained a particular injury. Using the information they glean from these exams, they can make suggestions on how to optimize your movement to improve your function and prevent future injuries. If physical therapy is required, the sports medicine and rehabilitation physician can write the prescription, which your physical therapist will follow to get you back on track to better movement and sports performance. The sports medicine and rehabilitation medicine physicians emphasize a team-oriented approach to injury prevention, and work closely with physical therapists, trainers, performance staff, and other medical staff to help keep you performing at your highest level.
Osteopathic Manipulation
Osteopaths on the sports medicine team have additional specialized training in the use of hands-on techniques to diagnose and correct structural and biomechanical imbalances. These safe, gentle services are often effective and are available at the NewYork-Presbyterian Sports Performance.
Treatments to Promote Healing
Sports medicine and rehabilitation physicians offer a range of interventional options to help minimize pain, enhance the natural healing mechanisms of the body, and restore function. Some athletes may benefit from "orthobiologic” treatments—ultrasound-guided injections that stimulate and enhance the natural healing process in the body. Examples include:
- Prolotherapy. Injection of an irritant solution into an injured tendon or ligament to jump-start the healing process.
- Platelet-rich plasma (PRP). Platelets and plasma are separated and concentrated from a small amount of blood taken directly from the athlete, and are injected back into an injured area to speed the healing of ligament and tendon injuries.
- Percutaneous needle tenotomy. A vibrating needle that emits ultrasound waves is inserted into an injured tendon to break down and remove damaged tissue. Consultations for this treatment are available at the NewYork-Presbyterian Sports Performance, and the minimally-invasive procedure itself is done in another facility.
Our sports medicine and rehabilitation physicians are dedicated to providing ethical and evidence-based recommendations on the appropriate use of emerging treatment options, and are actively engaged in research and educational efforts in orthobiologic therapies.
Managing Concussions
Sports medicine and rehabilitation physicians perform assessment of athletes with concussions and monitor patients to determine when they can safely return to play. They have also established collaborations with sports programs at local high schools.