Sports Medicine Guide

Sports medicine looks at medical practices and principles involving sports and the science of sports. It covers every aspect of sports health, nutrition, injury diagnosis, treatment, and prevention as well as essential sports safety. This guide aims to inform you of potential sport injuries and what to do when they’re encountered as well as generally providing information on how to maintain a healthy body to help ensure an active and healthy lifestyle. Being informed and keeping your body in good condition is the key to leading a happy and healthy sporting life.

Of course talking about ‘sports’ generalises a wide range and variety of different activities. Each sport brings with it both general and specific potential injuries and ailments which this guide will address alongside information about sports nutrition and safety.


Sports Science

Sports science can also be known as exercise science and is the thinking, study and science behind all sports medicine. It focuses on physiology, anatomy and psychology to determine how these aspects of our body relate to physical activity and the way we move. Compared to other scientific pursuits, sports science is still in its early stages, but it is progressing and many of the current developments in sports techniques are a result of the discoveries of exercise science. The field of research rages broadly from the general public to professional athletes and looks at both the physical and psychological implications of exercise. More specifically, sports science investigates how to improve exercise techniques relating to lifestyle improvement and performance enhancement. It also does research on the best methods of injury prevention and recovery acceleration. Essentially, sports science, like sports medicine, conducts studies aiming to discover the best way to optimise your health and performance.

Sports Health

Taking care of your body, listening to what it wants and supplying it with the needs it requires will help assure you are in peak physical condition to optimise your sporting performance. A healthy body will function well. Exercising regularly and maintaining a well balanced diet are the basic requirements of a healthy lifestyle as well as a necessity for staying fit and healthy. Speaking generally, you need to make sure that around your exercise you make sure you have fed your body with enough nutrients so it has the energy to function optimally, as well as keeping yourself hydrated. Hydration and staying energised are the two most important factors in staying healthy whilst being physically active. Depriving your body of what it needs can result in a poor sporting performance and could be the difference between feeling unhappy and unfit in your sporting life rather happy, successful and accomplished. This guide will look carefully and a good sports diet and how to stay healthy whilst you exercise.

Sports First Aid and Safety

During sports events, especially those which involve team games or professional competition, there will usually be a trained first aider present at all times in case of any injuries. This is critical in ensuring that you will get immediate medical attention if anything should go wrong. These are all basic safety elements which have been put in place to prevent any serious injury developing as a result of sporting activities.

The main figure responsible for ensuring basic sports safety is the medical sports specialist, Augustus Thorndike. He attended Harvard Medical School and initiated many of the important advances in sports medicine which we accept as the norm today. Thanks to him it is now necessary that a doctor or medically trained professional is present at every sporting event and also that it is the doctor’s discretion whether or not an injured person is allowed to participate or carry on in their sport. These fundamental sports principles are important safety features. He also made vital progression in designing and enforcing regulation safety sportswear, such as helmets for hockey players, as well as designing advanced protective equipment for footballers.

It is always critically important to have someone who is medically trained present during organised sporting activities. If conducting sport individually, such as running or working out at home, make sure someone else is present so that either they or you are able to contact medical assistance if something were to go wrong. Quick response help is a vital aspect of sports safety and should always be a top priority. Failing to do so could result in severe or even fatal injury which could have been prevented if professional medical help had arrived more rapidly.