Sports Injuries and Conditions
OC Sports and Wellness caters to individuals of all athletic abilities, from professional athletes to weekend warriors. We partner with specialists to develop all-encompassing treatment plans for each patient. Whether you’re recovering from an injury or looking to improve your overall well-being, we can help.
What are the most common sports injuries?
OC Sports and Wellness specializes in treating a variety of sports injuries nonsurgically. With highly targeted, ultrasound-guided injections, our medical team can inject platelet-rich plasma (PRP) to promote healing and tissue regeneration. PRP and other minimally invasive medical techniques we use can relieve pain and boost your body’s restorative response.
Exercise is beneficial whether you play sports, engage in performance theater, work a physically demanding job, or are keeping up with your kids. If you don’t warm up correctly or overdo it occasionally, you can have an injury that keeps you out of circulation for a few weeks. Sports injuries are prevalent, and many of them heal with rest and home therapies like ice or heat, but a more severe injury that goes untreated can cause problems later on in life. Some of the most common sports injuries we see in Orange County include:
- Tennis or golfer’s elbow
- Strained muscles
- Sprained or torn ligaments
- Rotator cuff/shoulder injuries
- Knee injuries
- Ankle sprains
- Pulled hamstrings
When should you seek treatment for a sports injury?
If you’re experiencing persistent pain or dealing with an injury that hasn’t fully healed, we advise you to consult Dr. Sunshine. Neglected sports injuries have the potential to worsen without proper diagnosis and treatment. We emphasize the importance of promptly addressing sports injuries if home remedies are ineffective. Suppose you have an injury related to physical activity that hasn’t shown improvement with alternative treatments. In that case, ultrasound-guided injections might offer relief and promote complete recovery, allowing you to resume the sport or activity you love.
Ankle and Foot
If an athlete has a direct head injury and shows immediate signs of a concussion, they have a concussion. There are no specific tests or scans to confirm it; it’s all about the symptoms. Common symptoms include headaches, confusion, feeling tired, and trouble concentrating.
Back
Elbow
An ultrasound machine helps us see what’s under the skin. We often use it to look at developing babies and the heart. But in the last 20 years, we’ve started using ultrasound to see soft tissue injuries, like tendons, ligaments, and muscles. This lets us check injuries in real-time and start treatment quickly.
Dr. Sunshine also uses ultrasound to guide his injections for regenerative treatments. It helps him see where the needle is going and the structures underneath to be precise and give patients better results.
X-rays are still the best way to see bones, and MRIs are best for cartilage and joint issues. However, ultrasound is an excellent tool because it gives patients answers about their injuries immediately, without radiation.
Hand and Wrist
Prolotherapy has been around for a long time and is effective in relieving pain and stiffness in joints and helping heal partially torn tendons and ligaments. I’ve been using this treatment since 2007, and most patients see improvements after 1-3 injections. The main goal of this treatment is to reduce pain and increase the function of the treated joint, tendon, or ligament.
Prolotherapy is suitable for both teenagers and adults who have injuries that aren’t getting better with rest, physical therapy, or other treatments. Patients who receive Prolotherapy are encouraged to continue or start therapy to strengthen and stabilize the injured area.
Hip and Thigh
Knee and Lower Leg
HA is a natural joint lubricant that decreases as people get older. The HA used for these injections is a thick, see-through liquid put directly into the knee joint, often with the help of ultrasound. This treatment has been used for a long time to help with knee OA, and it’s safe and well-tolerated. Medicare pays for HA injections for knee OA; other insurance companies might cover them, too.
Shoulder
PRP injections have become famous for treating painful joints and tendons in the sports world. Research shows that PRP can reduce pain and improve how these body parts work. It’s like another treatment called Prolotherapy, and both of them can reduce pain and lower the need for certain surgeries.
Whole Body
We use a face mask to measure the air you breathe in and out during the test. It’s an accurate way to check your fitness level.
Here’s how the test works: You exercise on a treadmill or a bike, and the difficulty keeps going up every few minutes until you’re exhausted. We also figure out your highest heart rate from this test. This, along with your resting heart rate, helps us find the perfect heart rate range for your workouts, which is better than using age-based estimates. So, after the test, you’ll know how fit you are and how to get even fitter.
Sports Medicine is more than just treating injuries. It’s about helping you stay healthy and strong to perform at your best in all aspects of your life, including:
- Injury prevention: We can help you identify and address any factors that put you at risk of injury. This may include muscle imbalances, poor posture, or improper training techniques.
- Injury treatment: If you get injured, we can provide the care you need to heal quickly and thoroughly. We work with our patients to develop personalized treatment plans.
- Performance enhancement: We can help you improve your athletic performance by developing health maintenance programs tailored to your needs and goals. We can advise you on nutrition, sleep, and other lifestyle factors affecting your performance.
At OC Sports and Wellness in Orange County, we believe everyone deserves to live a healthy and active lifestyle. We’re here to help you achieve your fitness goals and stay injury-free. Some of our services are listed below:
