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Sports Injuries

Daniel Nelson, MD

Interventional Pain Medicine & Regenerative Medicine located in Greater Seattle area, Kirkland, WA

Being an active participant in sports is an excellent way of keeping fit and reducing stress, as well as being extremely enjoyable. Sports injuries are a problem you’re bound to encounter at some stage, but Daniel Nelson, MD, practicing in Kirkland, in the Greater Seattle area of Washington, can treat your injury and get you back on the field playing better than ever. Dr. Nelson and Sarah Goble, PA-C, provide expert pain management and restorative treatments for sports injuries, including regenerative medicine therapies. Call Dr. Daniel Nelson today to find out more or book an appointment online.

Sports Injuries Q & A

What are sports injuries?

Sports injuries happen when you’re participating in sports, training for your chosen sport, or doing any kind of vigorous physical activity.

Sports injuries are a common issue for people who play sports regularly, but they can also affect you even if you don’t exercise every day. If you’re working in an office all week and then overdo the strenuous activity at the weekends, your body isn’t prepared for the sudden shift in activity levels.

Sports injuries are more likely to happen to you if you don’t use proper warming up and cooling off exercises. Poor technique playing sports often leads to injury as well, as does a lack of investment in good quality equipment.

What kinds of sports injuries might I get?

The types of sports injuries Dr. Nelson sees most often include:

Rotator cuff tears

The rotator cuff is a linking network of muscles and connective tissues that helps your arm stay in your shoulder socket. Putting a lot of weight or effort into a throw, for example, pitching in baseball or serving in tennis, can tear your rotator cuff. If you dislocate your shoulder that can also cause rotator cuff injuries.

ACL and MCL tears

The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and the medial collateral ligament (MCL) are in your knee. Knees come under a great deal of strain in many sports, and tears of the ACL and MCL are common. They’re especially likely to affect you if you play sports where you’re sprinting then turning or stopping suddenly.

Tennis elbow and golfer’s elbow

Tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis) and the closely related golfer’s elbow (medial epicondylitis) are both overuse injuries of the elbow. Tennis elbow affects the inside of the joint, while golfer’s elbow affects the outside. These injuries don’t only occur in people who play tennis or golf; however, the repetitive, forceful use of the arms when using a golf club or tennis racquet is typical of the actions that lead to this type of injury.

Other common sports injuries include Achilles tendon injuries in the lower leg and meniscal tears in the knee.

Please go to our Conditions page to learn more.

What treatments are there for sports injuries?

Most sports injuries usually do well with physical therapy, or treatments like chiropractic, massage therapy, and acupuncture. However, when these therapies do not reduce your pain, Dr. Nelson offers treatments that can help.

Joint injections and spinal injections containing anesthetic and steroid medication can be helpful, and trigger point injections can work wonders on knotted muscles. Most sports injuries could also benefit from regenerative medicine treatments like stem cell and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapies.

Please go to our Procedures page to learn more about treatments for sports injuries.

To find out more about regaining your abilities after suffering a sports injury, call Dr. Daniel Nelson today or book an appointment online.