A sports injury clinic provides a variety of services to help athletes recover from injuries. Most clinics bring together experts from a variety of disciplines, including medical doctors, physiotherapists and massage therapists, to provide a comprehensive treatment program to the patient. As many sports injuries can be complex, this combination of experts is often essential for correctly diagnosing and treating a condition. A clinic may also provide access to imaging technology such as MRI scans and X-rays.
The primary purpose of a sports injury clinic is to provide rehabilitation programs to athletes. In some cases, a sports injury merely requires rest and some simple exercises to prevent muscle wastage. Other injuries are more serious or difficult to treat. If, for example, an athlete has an overuse injury, this could be caused by a range of problems including poor foot biomechanics, low core strength, or inflexible muscles. Experts from a range of fields may be required to sort out the problem, which is why a sports injury clinic is useful.
Even though these clinics usually focus on treating sports injuries, they don’t just treat professional athletes. Most clinics will provide care to those from a range of backgrounds, including those who rarely play sports. Some injuries are sometimes more common among amateur athletes who don’t have the muscle strength and conditioning to cope with high-impact activities.
The main advantage to visiting a sports injury clinic is that the athlete gains access to a variety of different health care professionals. A clinic often offers services such as physiotherapy, sports massage, and biomechanical assessment. Many clinics also have sports doctors on staff who can provide a different approach to injury diagnosis and treatment including administering injections. Depending on the clinic's goals and patients, some will also offer alternative therapies such as those offered by a chiropractor.
A sports injury clinic might also offer advanced imaging techniques as part of the service. While expensive, MRIs can be helpful in diagnosing joint problems such as in the knee area. Other techniques, such as X-rays and ultrasound, are also common when diagnosing sports injuries. Larger sports injury clinics may own imaging machines, while smaller clinics often refer the patient to another facility.
Most sports injury clinics charge on a per hour basis, with the cost depending on which expert the patient is visiting. Physiotherapists, for example, often cost less than sports medicine physicians. MRI scans and other techniques, for example, can be very expensive, and are often only available to patients with good medical insurance or who can cover the cost out of pocket.
