Welcome to Tampa Bay (or should we say “Champa” Bay?)—the home of world champion sports teams and the most avid football, baseball, and hockey fans in the nation. If you’re like many people, you may believe that sports rehabilitation services are reserved for professional athletes on teams like the Buccaneers or Lightning, but this simply isn’t the case. Sports rehabilitation is advantageous for any active individual—from weekend warriors, golf junkies, and avid joggers to high school and college athletes. Let’s take a closer look at sports rehabilitation and why it’s beneficial for athletes at all levels.
What Exactly Is Sports Rehabilitation?
Sports rehabilitation is a key component of sports medicine that focuses on helping an individual recover from an injury or degenerative disease sustained or worsened while engaging in physical activity. In addition to addressing the condition itself, sports rehabilitation aims to maximize the patient’s strength, range of motion, and overall musculoskeletal health. For example, a baseball player who received surgery to correct a rotator cuff tear—or a pick-up basketball enthusiast who sustained a severe ankle sprain—would participate in sports rehabilitation to help facilitate the recovery process and restore athletic ability.
Often, sports rehabilitation is a multidisciplinary process that can involve a wide array of non-invasive techniques, such as:
- Physical therapy
- Aquatic therapy
- Manual therapy
- Dry needling
- Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy
- Stem cell therapy
- Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS)
- Pharmaceutical therapy
When Is Sports Rehabilitation Needed?
Sports rehabilitation is typically recommended following orthopedic surgery to correct a sports injury. However, it also plays an important role in non-surgical treatment plans for conditions such as:
- Knee ligament injuries (ACL, PCL, MCL, LCL)
- Tennis elbow
- Golfer’s elbow
- Bursitis
- Throwing injuries
- Sprains and strains
- Achilles tendon injuries
- Shin splints
- Bone fractures
- Joint dislocations
- Contusions
Our Approach to Sports Rehabilitation
Whether you’re playing on the football field or sitting in the stands on Sunday afternoons, Tampa Orthopaedic & Sports Medicine Group can help you find the expert sports rehabilitation services you need and deserve. A division of Florida Medical Clinic, our practice was founded in 1949 to provide world-class orthopedic care and sports medicine services to Tampa-area residents. Today, our team is led by two board-certified specialists: orthopedic sports medicine surgeon Dr. Daniel Murphy and sports medicine physician Dr. Arnold Ramirez. When they’re not caring for patients at our center in South Tampa, you can find our doctors on the sidelines as part of the medical staffs of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New York Yankees.
Consult with the same physicians that our local pros do! Contact Tampa Orthopaedic & Sports Medicine Group today to learn more about our approach to sports rehabilitation referrals and sports injury treatment, or to reserve an appointment with a specialist on our team. You can also request an appointment on our website when it’s most convenient for you. Our team looks forward to helping you get back in the game—whatever your game may be!
