Sports & Exercise Medicine (SEM)

It is a prominent branch of medicine that is primarily concerned with injuries related to sports and related exercises. Maintaining physical fitness, prevention & treatment are the important regimes of this branch. The branch requires an in depth knowledge in musculoskeletal medicine. The major conditions other than injuries include:

  • Unexplained Under-performance Syndrome.
  • Testing the cardiac abnormalities.
  • Diabetes associated with sports.
  • Exercise induced asthma.
  • Female Athlete triad.

sports medicine new delhi india

The common forms of sports injuries are mentioned below:

  • Muscle cramps: Cramps refer to painful sensations caused by irregular muscle contraction. Muscle cramps occur when the muscles like thigh muscle forcibly & involuntarily contract. It becomes difficult for the muscles to relax. The condition is accompanied by a sudden intense pain.
  • Concussion: This results from a severe head injury. This condition is related to the violent movement of the brain inside the skull. The nerves in the brain get triggered simultaneously, causing a seizure like situation.
  • ACL sprain: ACL refers to Anterior Cruciate Ligament. This happens to be a very important ligament for stabilizing the knee. A rupture in this ligament happens when the knee gets twisted in a wrong direction. This leads to the onset of intense knee pain.
  • Shin Splints: The condition is medically called Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome. It occurs when there is a repetitive pain in the connective tissues surrounding the tibia & its related areas. The important characteristics of this syndrome are intense pain in the lower part of the leg, especially between ankle & knee.
  • Ankle sprain: This commonly happens when the ligaments that hold the ankle bones become stretched beyond the normal limits.

Performance medicine is also an important sub-category. This stream includes analysis of patient’s physiology & correction of abnormalities in order to achieve the desired performance.

A group of medical specialists are also focused on exercise medicine. This happens to be a branch that is acquiring attention nowadays. Physical inactivity has crept into all the sections of the society and this is contributed to ill-health to a large extent. The treatment involves analysis of patient’s mobility, exercise testing, and administering exercises that can improve the range of motion as well as the general health.

Treatments