Welcome to the Sports Medicine section

Sport's medicine encompasses the following elements: preparation and training, prevention of injuries and illness, diagnosis and treatment of injuries and illness, rehabilitation and return to active participation in sport.

As can be seen, sport's medicine covers a large area; however, for this section we will concentrate mainly on topics relating to athlete health with the occasional articles covering the broader outline of sport's medicine. In the exercise physiology (the ABC) section and physiotherapy section there will be various areas of sports medicine that will be covered. Such is the development of sports medicine that it is becoming increasingly important for the sports doctor to concentrate on the problems affecting the athlete from the waist to the head. The head is another area altogether (smile).

Although many millions of people participate in sports their is a relatively low incidence of fatalities and catastrophic injuries. There is however, a problem resulting from participants who incur injuries or illness as a result from training and competing who allow the problem to develop into more serious chronic conditions. For this reason it is of major importance that the athlete creates a good medical team around his needs and works with a doctor who works more in the direction of sports medicine.