If you are like most people, you probably don’t give much thought to your health until something goes wrong. And when it comes to sports injuries, many people wait too long to see a doctor. By the time they seek medical help, their injury may have progressed beyond treatment. In this article, we will give you advice on how to prepare for your first sports doctor appointment. Keep reading to learn more.
Most people are participating in various sports activities. If you’re one of them, you must learn how to prepare for your first sports doctor appointment. You will never know when an injury or illness may occur, and learning about the steps on how to prepare for a visit to your chosen sports doctor can help you get back into the game as soon as possible. Below are some tips on how to prepare for your first sports doctor appointment:
This is the first thing you need to do when seeking medical treatment from a sports doctor. When you have visited your chosen physician, make sure that you talk about how and where were you injured during practice or games. You also need to talk about what type of sports activity is involved in every day. Knowing this information can help your sports doctor give a proper diagnosis and come up with an ideal treatment plan best suited for your injury or illness.
To help your sports doctor get a better idea of what is causing you to feel discomfort, you must provide them with the most accurate symptoms. You should tell them everything from pain level and location to whether or not there are any visible signs of injury on your skin. This will allow your physician to come up with an appropriate treatment plan for you quickly and efficiently.
Even if you are not injured right now, it is still important that you discuss your past injury history with your sports doctor. Knowing this information can help them determine the best course of treatment and recovery for future injuries or illnesses that may occur in the future. Besides, they might be able to advise on how to prevent further injury as well.
If you have experienced any recent weight changes, you must discuss this with your sports doctor. If you gained or lost a few pounds over the past year, this could affect how well-suited certain treatment options will be for your body type and overall health needs. Your physician should know about these things before making any recommendations on what to do or not do during recovery time from an injury or illness.
If you are taking any prescription or over-the-counter medications, make sure that your sports doctor is aware of them. This will help them come up with an appropriate treatment plan for your specific health needs and injury type. For example, if you have a history of high blood pressure, diabetes, or heart disease it may not be safe to take certain anti-inflammatory drugs during recovery from an injury because they could cause these conditions to worsen instead of improving them.
Your sports doctor should be aware of how active you are every day. If they ask you this question, it is because they want to know if your activity levels could affect the treatment plan that they make for your specific injury or illness needs. For example, if you work out regularly at an intense level then taking anti-inflammatory medications might not be safe for someone like yourself who does more moderate exercise regularly.
Lastly, don’t forget to ask your sports doctor any questions you may have about the injury or illness that you are experiencing. This is their job, and they want to make sure that you understand everything about your diagnosis and treatment plan before leaving their office. If there is anything at all that you do not understand, be sure to ask them to clarify it for you.
When it comes to preparing for your first sports doctor appointment, the more you know about what you’re going in there to talk about and do, the better. We hope these tips will help get you ready for a smooth experience with your sports doctor. Give us a call today. Our team is here to answer all of your questions.
Dr. Chen sees patients at Saint Francis Memorial Hospital Center for Sports Medicine in Walnut Creek, California. He is a board-certified Pediatrician and Sports Medicine Doctor that specializes in the non-operative medical treatment of a wide variety of various musculoskeletal conditions, including back injuries. Dr. Chen graduated from St. George’s University School of Medicine and went on to complete Pediatric residency training at the University of Medicine and Dentistry in New Jersey (Rutgers), then went on to fellowship training in Sports Medicine at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, one of the perennially top-ranked children’s hospitals in the nation. There he provided sideline coverage for NCAA Division I athletics at the University of Cincinnati and Miami University (OH). Since graduating, Dr. Chen has continued his love of sports coverage by volunteering for the San Francisco Marathon, the San Francisco Giant Race, and as the team physician for Northgate High School in Walnut Creek. Being a part of The Center for Sports Medicine allows Dr. Chen quick access to a multidisciplinary team of orthopedic surgeons, podiatrists, physiatrists, and physical therapists to return you to your highest functional level quickly and safely. Click here to contact us for your next appointment!
925-934-3536
stephen.chen@eastbaysportsdoc.com