Sports Medicine at OC Sports and Wellness
Orange County, California
What is Sports Medicine?
At OC Sports & Wellness, located in Orange County, CA, sports medicine isn’t just for elite athletes—it’s for anyone who wants to move better, feel stronger, recover faster, and get back to doing what they love.
Why We Offer It
Whether you’re training for a race, recovering from an injury, or simply dealing with persistent niggles that won’t allow you to perform at your best, sports medicine offers a focused, proactive approach. It’s about more than “fixing” you—it’s about optimizing your support, protection, and performance so you can live life stronger, longer.
Our Unique Approach
In sports medicine, the assessment and treatment go beyond general medicine. We understand that your body isn’t just idle—it has demands: your sport, your movement patterns, your goals. Our team customizes your plan to your body, your sport or activity, and your ambitions.
Here’s how we stand apart:
- We consider how your sport or activity places specific stresses on your muscles, bones, ligaments, and tendons..
- We craft treatment plans meant not just to heal, but to return you to peak performance..
- We apply advanced diagnostic tools and regenerative therapies when needed—such as ultrasound-guided injections, PRP (platelet-rich plasma), hyaluronic acid, and other state-of-the-art options.
What Counts as a “Sports Injury”?
It’s not just major injuries on the field—sports medicine covers a range of issues, from sudden traumas to wear-and-tear over time:
- Sudden injuries: e.g., sprains, fractures, torn ligaments
- Overuse injuries: e.g., tendonitis, shin splints, repetitive joint pain
- Conditions affecting athletes of any level—from weekend warriors to high-school and collegiate competitors
Some of the Most Common Injuries We See
- ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) tears
- Meniscal and cartilage injuries in the knee
- Shoulder dislocations, separations, or rotator-cuff strains
- Tendonitis (e.g., tennis elbow / lateral epicondylitis)
- Concussions and other head injuries
- Sprains, strains, and nerve-compression injuries
Concussion Management
Concussions are common injuries in high school, college, and professional sports. They’re also known as mild traumatic brain injuries (mTBI). Concussions usually happen when an athlete’s head collides with another player’s head, knee, shoulder, or the ground. They can also occur from a sudden head movement or being hit by a ball in sports like basketball or baseball.
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.
Sports Ultrasound Evaluations
Sports Ultrasound Evaluations
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.
Prolotherapy Injections
Prolotherapy is a medical procedure where a mixture of saltwater, numbing medicine (lidocaine), and a sugar solution (dextrose) is injected into damaged and painful joints, as well as partially torn tendons and ligaments. This injection helps trigger the body’s natural healing process.
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.
Learn more about Prolotherapy
Hyaluronic Acid Injections
Hyaluronic Acid (HA) injections are treatments for people with knee osteoarthritis (OA). OA is a condition that damages the knees, and many Americans have it. Various things can cause knee pain, and one of those things is OA. Doctors can find out if someone has OA by taking X-ray or MRI pictures of their knee joint.
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 Hyaluronic Acid injections for knee OA; other insurance companies might cover them, too.
Platelet Rich Plasma Injections
Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is a medical treatment that takes a concentrated solution of platelets from your blood and injects it into your sore or injured joints, tendons, or ligaments. This helps your body heal and reduce pain. People have used PRP in dentistry and veterinary medicine for years, but it only started being used for muscle and joint problems in the early 2000s. Nowadays, PRP is also used in beauty treatments because it can help grow new cells.
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.
V02 Max Fitness Testing
VO2 Max, or maximal oxygen consumption, is about the maximum amount of oxygen your body can use when you’re doing very tough exercise. It’s a great way to tell how fit your heart and lungs are. If you can use a lot of oxygen during strenuous exercise, you’ll have more energy. This test is the best way to check how well your heart and lungs deliver oxygen to your muscles during long, challenging workouts. 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.
Why Choose Us
At OC Sports & Wellness:
- We uphold reliable professionalism—you’ll know what to expect, every time.
- We bring a compassionate, caring approach—your story and goals matter to us.
- We stay continuously up to date—our lead physician has decades of experience and invests in the latest in sports-medicine research and technologies.
- We are inclusive—we treat athletes of all ages, abilities, and levels of activity.
- We are innovative—we use the latest tools (including sports-ultrasound diagnostics, regenerative therapies, VO₂ max testing) to help you get back to what you love, faster and stronger.
Ready to Get Started?
If you’ve been sidelined by pain, no longer performing at your best, or simply want to elevate your strength/fitness safely and effectively, let’s work together. Contact us to take your first step toward better health, movement, and performance.
