How Sports Injuries Are Set Apart from Others

Sports injuries can be painful and limit your future performance in your favorite sport. At LA Pain Doctor, interventional pain management specialists Firas Hijazi, MD, and Satvik Munshi, MD, understand how complex and disruptive sports injuries can be.

The LA Pain Doctor team offers comprehensive treatment services to help you recover fully and prevent additional injuries during sports.

What makes sports injuries different

Sports injuries typically occur because of trauma from direct contact or from overuse of the muscles, tendons, and ligaments in your body.

Because many athletes and sports enthusiasts continue to play sports, existing injuries can keep worsening. Sports injuries can also become more complicated if you continue playing sports with an injury or if you return to the game before you’ve fully recovered.

You may be prone to sports injuries when you start participating in a sport after not being regularly active. You may also be at increased risk for injury if you fail to warm up adequately before you start playing your chosen sport.

Common types of sports injuries

There are a number of injuries that relate back to sports. If you play football or another high-contact sport, you may be at an increased risk for broken bones or dislocations in your shoulder or knee joint.

Other common types of sports injuries include:

• Muscle sprains
• Tendon strains
• Rotator cuff tear
• Achilles tendon rupture

You can also develop chronic inflammation in your body from movements required of certain sports. These movements can irritate your muscles and ligaments, leading to inflammation and pain. Conditions include runner’s knee, golfer’s elbow, and swimmer’s shoulder.

In addition to persistent pain, sports injuries can lead to muscle weakness, joint instability, and loss of your range of motion, which limits your ability to continue participating in sports.

Non-surgical treatment options for sports injuries

When rest and over-the-counter medications are no longer enough to get you back into the game, you can rely on the expertise of the LA Pain Doctor physicians. They work with you based on your individual pain management needs and can recommend treatment options to relieve pain without surgery or extended downtime.

In fact, many of these advanced treatments can help you avoid the need for surgery while helping you recover more efficiency. The providers can determine if you’re a candidate for treatments like platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections, which stimulate your body’s own natural healing ability. As new cells grow, they replace damaged cells in your ligaments, tendons, and muscles.

For fast and long-lasting pain relief, Dr. Hijazi and Dr. Munshi offer in-office treatments to address back pain, neck pain, and knee pain, including:

• Nerve blocks
• Steroid injections
• Hyaluronic acid injections
• Epidural steroid injections

You may also benefit from minimally invasive radiofrequency ablation, a procedure that uses heat energy to destroy nerve fibers and prevent the transmission of pain signals to your brain.

Your customized treatment plan focuses on your unique needs and your provider can also work with you throughout your rehabilitation to ensure a full recovery. They can also refer you for physical therapy to improve your mobility and performance in your chosen sport, while lowering your risk factors for additional sports injuries.

If you’ve been out of the game for too long because of pain or disability, get in touch with the team at the nearest LA Pain Doctor office by phone or by using the online booking system to schedule a consultation.