Sports Injuries Treatment

Minimally Invasive Pain Relief for Athletes

Highly active people who participate in athletics are susceptible to a variety of sports injuries that can impede their performance and keep them sidelined. Even a minor sports injury can lead to significant problems if left unaddressed. If you experience a muscle strain or injury-related pain at the gym, on the field, or during any other athletic endeavor, we encourage you to seek professional pain relief.

At American Pain Consortium, our board-certified pain management specialists offer personalized, non-surgical sports injury treatment to help patients successfully recover and get back to their active lifestyles.

Comprehensive Care for Common Sports Injuries

A sprain is caused by the overstretching of the ligaments and can feel as painful as a fracture. Ligaments are bands of tough, fibrous tissue that help connect your bones and joints. Your ligaments ensure that your bones and joints don’t twist too much or become dislocated. Sprains are caused by aggressive twisting, overextending, and landing awkward jumps or falls. The most commonly sprained joint is the ankle.

Although strains are often mistaken for sprains, strains involve overstretching of the muscles and tendons. The tendons are fibrous tissue that connects your muscles to bone. The muscles and tendons can become overstretched as a result of heavy lifting and stress caused by repetitive motions. If left untreated, the muscles and tendons can continue to stretch, eventually leading to a tear.

Overuse Injuries and Stress Fractures

Overuse injuries are soft-tissue injuries caused by repetitive and/or excessive motions. Overuse injuries can affect the muscles, ligaments, and tendons, as well as your bones.

Common overuse injuries include:

• Jumper’s knee
• Tennis elbow
• Golfer’s elbow
• Runner's knee
• Shin splints
• Spondylolysis

In some cases, overuse injuries can lead to stress fractures or small cracks in your bones. Stress fractures are most common in the feet.

Personalized Sports Injury Treatment Plans

Depending on your diagnosis, treatment varies. Your doctor uses your health evaluation, which includes a physical exam, imaging tests, and discussion of your medical history, to determine the underlying cause of your condition. The treatment plan we’ll develop for you depends on individual factors including your diagnosis, whether there are any contributing factors and your level of pain.

Sports injury treatment plans may include:

• Rest/activity restrictions
• Heat and ice therapy
• Brace or sling
• Non-opioid Medication
• Strengthening and flexibility exercises
• Steroid injections
• Radiofrequency Ablation
• Physical therapy

When to Consult a Specialist for Your Injury

Although many minor sports injuries will subside with at-home treatment, you should seek medical attention from a specialist if your symptoms are severe or if you have difficulty bearing weight on the affected area. While some are tempted to see whether injury-related pain will go away without treatment, you should know that taking the “wait and see” approach it could cause complications like weakness, deconditioning, gait abnormalities, loss of mobility, and scar tissue buildup, and increased or even chronic pain. Plus, if you don’t seek treatment, hidden underlying factors contributing to your pain may never be identified and resolved, which increases the risk of a repeat injury.

During your appointment with our interventional pain experts, we will help find the right treatment for speedy, effective recovery and a comprehensive, personalized treatment plan.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between an acute and a chronic sports injury?

An acute sports injury occurs suddenly during physical activity, usually resulting from a specific trauma like a fall, collision, or awkward twist (e.g., a sprained ankle or fractured bone). A chronic sports injury develops gradually over time due to repetitive stress on muscles, tendons, or joints without adequate rest, leading to conditions like tendonitis or stress fractures.

How soon after a sports injury should I start physical therapy?

The timeline depends on the severity and type of injury. While severe tears or fractures require an initial period of immobilization, guided physical therapy often begins once acute inflammation subsides—frequently within a few days to a couple of weeks post-injury. Early, controlled movement helps prevent joint stiffness, scar tissue buildup, and muscle atrophy.

Is it safe to play through minor sports pain?

Playing through pain is generally not recommended, as pain is your body's signal that tissue damage has occurred. Continuing to exercise on an injured area can turn a minor strain or sprain into a severe tear, or transform an acute condition into a long-term chronic issue. It is best to have any persistent pain evaluated by a medical professional.

If you have a recent sports injury that’s causing moderate to severe pain, swelling, and immobility, please contact us to ask about treatment options.