As America becomes more health and work-out conscious, the rate of sports injuries continues to increase. As a result, physical therapy has become an important specialty area of sports medicine. For those facing sports injuries, physical therapy can offer an opportunity to minimize lost playing time and optimize return performance. An integral part of the recovery process, physical therapists can help an individual to restore their activity, strength, and motion following an injury or surgery. The Emory Orthopaedic and Spine Center recognizes the significance of physical therapy among those with sports injuries and therefore provide patients with an onsite physical therapy rehabilitation facility. Physical therapists at the Emory Orthopaedic and Spine Center will tailor a program to fit any patient’s specific needs, teaching a variety of exercises, stretches and techniques in order to help patients make a full recovery and regain optimum function. Whether a patient is a full time professional athlete or simply enjoys physical activity, Emory physical therapists offer the road to fast recovery.

One of the most frequent and debilitating injuries in sports medicine is a torn ACL. The ACL is one of two ligaments in the center of your knee connecting your femur to your tibia. Typically, the ACL is torn when playing high intensity sports like soccer, basketball, and football due to the pivoting motions these intense games require.  An ACL injury usually results in patients feeling as if their knee if giving out, and often say they felt a ‘popping’ when the injury occurred.  An ACL knee injury varies in severity and need for surgery is different for every patient based on activity level.

Recently, ACL injuries have gained attention amongst sports medicine doctors who are trying to understand why female athletes are more at risk for ACL injuries than male athletes. Studies comparing competitive female and male soccer players have found a three-to-five times higher risk of ACL injury in female players. Doctors point to hormonal and neuromuscular differences between male and female anatomy as possible reasons for the increased risk of ACL injury among females. As a leader in sports medicine, Emory has devoted a program solely to this issue and is devising new ways to approach ACL surgery and techniques. 

If you’ve had a sports injury, it’s likely that it occurred in one of the major joints used during exercise or sports. Some of the most frequently injured body parts include knees, shoulders, ankles and elbows. Certain precautions such as stretching and knowing your limits can dramatically reduce the risk of injuries to these vulnerable joints. Virtually all sports injuries can generally be defined as either cumulative or acute. Cumulative injuries occur over time due to stress on muscles, soft tissues and joints without adequate time for healing. They typically begin as a small, nagging pain and can grow to a debilitating condition if not recognized and treated. In contrast, an acute injury is a sudden trauma that requires immediate attention. Whether your injury is acute or cumulative, the Sports Medicine Center at Emory Healthcare offers world-class care and treatments that are unmatched by other providers.