The Sports Medicine Patient Advisor

The Sports Medicine Patient Advisor contains easy to copy patient education handouts. This is the book that needs to be on every health care provider’s bookshelf and should be used constantly. Pre-print the topics that are common to your practice and have them readily available to give to your patients. Review the handouts with your patients and be sure they understand how to do the rehab. Your patients will really appreciate learning about their sports injuries or problems and will love getting a home rehabilitation program and a plan that tells them when they can return to their sport or activity.

The information contained in this book refers to the use of rehabilitation aids that can be found anywhere – weights in a gym or a person’s home, resistance bands that can be dispensed from a provider’s office or items founds at home like a soup can or a hammer!

Resistance bands are easy to find. There are several colors and strengths. For simplicity I use green theraband for lower extremity injuries and yellow theraband for upper extremity injuries.

This is the resource that will improve patient satisfaction, compliance, and return to action! No patient with a sports related problem should leave your office without receiving a handout.

Pierre Rouzier, M.D.

Team Physician

University of Massachusetts

The Sports Medicine Patient Advisor was designed to give health professionals a resource to make handouts to give to their patients. It soon became popular with coaches, athletes and parents. This edition contains a special introductory section for these readers.

In this sports medicine book, coaches, athletes and parents can learn about common sports injuries and how to safely return to participation. It is important to remember that this information is not a substitute for medical care and that an injured athlete needs to get appropriate attention from the sports medicine team. This team can include an athletic trainer, primary care physician with training in sports medicine, orthopedic surgeon, additional specialists, mid-level providers or therapists. In some cases it may involve a nutritionist or a mental health professional. Integral to the “team concept” is participation by the athlete, their family, the athletic trainer and the coach. It is important that coaches, parents and athletes have these medical problems explained to them by a member of that team.

What is the sports medicine team?

The ideal sports medicine team provides comprehensive care of the athlete. The sports medicine team can include an athletic trainer, primary care physician with training in sports medicine, orthopedic surgeon, additional medical specialists, and physical therapists. In some cases it may involve a physician assistant or nurse practitioner, massage therapist, chiropractor, nutritionist or a mental health professional. Integral to the “team concept” is the participation by the athlete, their family, the athletic trainer and the coach.

Sometimes the sports medicine team is in a central location such as a sports medicine clinic, but in many communities the team is made of professionals who have offices in different places.

A sports medicine doctor has special training which prepares them to help the athlete with injuries, medical problems, and special situations such as eating disorders, training problems, and environmental conditions. The sports medicine doctor will do pre-participation physical exams and often times will have to make decisions if an athlete is allowed to play in their sport.

An orthopedic surgeon is a specialist who will take care of injuries and perform surgery if necessary. The team physician will be in frequent contact with the

orthopedic surgeon about a player’s progress.