Sports medicine is a type of orthopedics, which is a branch of surgery concerned with repairing injuries to the musculoskeletal system. Sport medicine is specifically devoted to treating sporting injuries in athletes. Sports medicine focuses on minimally invasive surgery and physical therapy to ensure athletes make a quick recovery to pre-injury level of play and activity. Sports injuries often happen in accidents on the playing field, such as in football tackles, and are also caused by repetitive strain injuries, such as swinging in golf. Commonly treated injuries in sports medicine include rotator cuff injuries in the shoulder and ACL injuries in the knee. No matter the injury, Dr. Shani focuses on getting you back to playing sports as quickly as possible
Rehabilitation from most orthopedic orthopedic-surgery takes four to six months. Over this time, you will work with Dr. Shani and a physical therapist on an individualized rehabilitation program with the goal to returning to pre-injury levels in sporting. Physical therapy first focuses on slowly regaining strength and mobility to the injured area. Eventually, focus shifts to sports specific exercises to prepare you for your return to the field. After six months of physical therapy and consultations with Dr. Shani, most patients can return to playing sports as well as they did before the injury.
Some orthopedic orthopedic-surgery require physical therapy before surgery to prepare the muscles and tendons for the procedure. You should not eat anything after midnight the evening before surgery. Take a shower in the morning and take your usual medications as prescribed. If you notice any scratches or scars near where the surgery is going to be performed, make to tell the nurses before your surgery. Dr. Shani performs most orthopedic-surgery at Memorial Herman Greater Heights in Houston, Texas. Most patients spend between five and eights hours at the hospital, and can go home the same day. Before the surgery, you will meet with your nurses, your anesthesiologist and again with Dr. Shani. During surgery, you are completely unconscious under general anesthesia and will not feel anything. Most surgical procedures take between thirty minutes to two hours in the operating room. After you wake up from surgery, there is about one hour more of recovery before a family member or friend can drive you home from the hospital. When you get home, you should stay hydrated, eat well, and get lots of rest.
Recovery from the surgery usually takes about three weeks. If you have any fever, increased pain, redness near the wound, or excessively bleeding during this time, please call us right away at 713-486-1700 . After surgery, you will keep the injured area covered in the surgical dressing for a few days while the wound initially heals. Typically you can shower about seven days after surgery, letting water gently run on the wound and cleaning the wound using gentle soap. Don’t submerge the area in water completely (like bathing) until the wound is completely healed. Most stitches used are specially designed absorbable stiches, meaning they are absorbed by your body in the first week of healing and do not have to be removed by Dr. Shani. To control pain, you will be given a low dose narcotic you can take as needed every four to six hours. Most patients will need about two weeks on pain medication to manage their pain. Be sure not to drive while you are taking pain medication. You can also put ice packs on the wound to control swelling and pain, but make sure the wound does not get wet.
This depends on how much physical activity is required in your job. If you work at a desk job, most orthopedic orthopedic-surgery have you return to work within a week. If your work involves manual labor, going back to work depends on specific rehabilitation programs and the extent of the manual labor or strenuous activity that has to be performed at work. This may take up three to six months. For professional athletics or other jobs that involve work activities specifically strenuous to the injured area, return to work may take up to a year.
