Sports Injuries Specialist

What are common sports injuries?

Running, jumping, and other high-impact sports take a toll on your feet and ankles, which account for more than 25% of the bones in your entire body. Prolonged stress of this kind can lead to a number of common sports-related injuries, such as:

Sprains

Ankle sprains can range from mild to severe. They happen when you twist your foot and damage the ligaments in your ankle. 

Fractures

Stress from repeated impact or rotational injuries can cause fractures, or small cracks in your bones. This results in pain, swelling, tenderness, and bruising.

Achilles tendonitis

Achilles tendonitis is a common injury of the Achilles tendon that happens with sports-related overuse and the wear-and-tear from constant stress on the tendon.

Plantar fasciitis

Plantar fasciitis is common in athletes who have to run or jump a great deal, and it happens over a period of time as the plantar fascia absorbs too much repeated stress, eventually resulting in inflammation and pain. 

Toenail injuries

Acute toenail injuries are common in sports that involve running and can cause significant pain and limit your activities. Long-term complications can involve chronic pain, fungus, and toe deformities.

How do you treat sports injuries?

At PMC Foot and Ankle Clinic, your provider examines the injury to determine the exact cause and location of the pain. They may also order additional imaging tests to diagnose the injury.

Based on your injury, your provider recommends treatments like icing your foot, keeping the injury elevated, and taking over-the-counter pain medication. 

If the injury is more severe, you may require a cast and crutches. Your provider also shows you a number of physical therapy exercises to stretch the inflamed tendon and reduce pain. 

For more serious injuries that don’t respond to conservative treatments, the practice also provides:

Stem cell therapy

Your provider uses targeted injections to deliver concentrated doses of stem cells directly into your plantar fascia. Stem cells are able to become any type of specialized cell your body requires, and the injected stem cells help to regenerate damaged tissue and provide pain relief. 

Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) treatment

Your provider draws a small amount of your blood, runs it through a centrifuge machine to separate the platelets from other blood components, and injects the platelet-fortified plasma back into the injured area. PRP therapy harnesses your blood’s natural healing abilities to promote regeneration at a cellular level along with pain relief. 

Laser therapy

Laser light therapy is a noninvasive, painless treatment that accelerates the speed and quality of tissue repair while also reducing inflammation.

If you suffer an injury while playing sports, call the office or use the online booking tool to make an appointment at PMC Foot and Ankle Clinic.