Sports Medicine

Sports medicine, also known as sports and exercise medicine, is a field of medicine that deals with physical fitness as well as the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of injuries encountered during exercise and sporting activities.

This interdisciplinary branch of medicine particularly involves injury prevention, understanding exercise physiology, optimizing sports performance, and enhancing the rehabilitation of injuries.
Sports medicine is a blend of general medicine, orthopedics, sports science, exercise physiology, sports nutrition, and sports psychology.

What are the duties of a Sports Medicine Doctor?

Sports medicine specialists can be either primary care physicians or orthopedic surgeons with added qualifications in sports medicine. Orthopedic surgeons are specialized to treat non-operative problems, and also operate on athletes if required. Primary-care sports medicine doctors aren’t licensed to perform surgeries but can expedite referral to a surgeon when necessary. Sports medicine specialist surgeons and primary care physicians not only manage professional athletes but also work with children, teens, and adults who play sports to stay physically fit and active. The job duties of sports medicine specialists include:

Diagnosing and treating sporting injuries
Prescribing medication when required
Devising and implementing rehabilitation strategies
Helping people attain their goals by teaching safe and effective exercise strategies
Making “return to play” decisions in sick or injured athletes
Working alongside sports psychologists and sports nutritionists for professional and Olympic level athletes
Addressing chronic illnesses that can impact physical performance, such as asthma and diabetes

Injuries addressed by Sports Medicine Specialists

Sports medicine specialists are skilled at preventing and treating a wide array of muscle, bone, and joint injuries, such as fractures, joint sprains, muscular strains, and dislocations. They also treat chronic overuse injuries, including shin splints, stress fractures, jumper’s knee, tennis elbow, Achilles tendinitis, and swimmer’s shoulder to name a few. Unlike sprains and strains that occur suddenly, overuse injuries evolve over time due to repetitive stress (micro-trauma) to the bones, tendons, and joints.

When to see a sports medicine specialist?

Minor sports injuries are likely to respond to over-the-counter pain relievers and anti-inflammatory medications, rest, icing the injured site, and other conservative treatments over time. Nonetheless, we recommend touching base with your doctor if things don’t rapidly improve, to avoid overlooking any major injury.

At Orthopedic Specialists of Seattle, we have sports medicine doctors like Dr. Charlie Peterson who utilize their expertise and years of experience to treat all manner of sporting injuries, while ensuring that you learn and implement measures to prevent such injuries at the same time. Most injuries certainly don’t require surgery! However, if surgery is necessary for the best outcome, Dr. Peterson is happy to fully discuss this with you, and if you then choose, then expertly operate on the injured area.

Dr. Peterson is an ABOS (American Board of Orthopedic Surgery) certified orthopedic Surgeon with additional subspecialty fellowship training in Sports Medicine. Contact Orthopedic Specialists of Seattle to schedule an appointment with Dr. Peterson or one of our other highly trained Sports Medicine orthopedic surgeons.

Dr Phillip Downer is an extremely talented, experienced, and compassionate Ortho. I have been lucky enough to be a patient of Dr Downer's and I can say without hesitation that he is your guy for anything hip related. He has over 20 years of experience in treating everything from hip dysplasia, impingement (FAI), severe OA for hip replacements, etc and truly cares about the patient's preferences to ensure the best possible route to regaining their desired lifestyle.
I would also like to comment that there appear to be critical reviews of the front desk, schedulers, and technicians but that couldn't be any more opposite of the experience that I have had both in the Ballard and Wallingford clinics. Everyone from front desk, scheduling, techs for MRI, etc have been extremely kind, professional, and timely.
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Chris S.
Dr. Reed is the best Foot & Ankle Doc in the Northwest! He gets to the root of the problem & does it quickly. Also, the surgical staff are so comforting and helpful. I highly recommend SOC for all of your Orthopedic concerns/conditions! 👍
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Rain
Dr. Downer performed my hip arthroscopy, and I could not be more happy with the result. I'm a professional dancer, so full mobility and strength are very important to me. Everyone, including my physical therapist, has told me my recovery process is well above average. I don't have any scar tissue build up, my incisions scars are tiny, and I've had none of the mobility issues I read so much about on forums for this surgery. Dr. Downer's precision and expertise has given me back my life. This is definitely the place to go if you need hip surgery!
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Lainey B.
Dr. Downer performed my hip arthroscopy, and I could not be more happy with the result. I'm a professional dancer, so full mobility and strength are very important to me. Everyone, including my physical therapist, has told me my recovery process is well above average. I don't have any scar tissue build up, my incisions scars are tiny, and I've had none of the mobility issues I read so much about on forums for this surgery. Dr. Downer's precision and expertise has given me back my life. This is definitely the place to go if you need hip surgery!
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Elaine B.
Confused by many of this reviews but wanted to share that I am happy with the treatment/care I received from Dr. Shapiro. He was concise and respectful, exactly how good surgeons should be. Excellent Bedside manor is for GPs, PTs, Techs and Nurses; I want my surgeons to be only interested in fixing my injury...not making me mentally feel good.
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Kelly M.
Dr. Shapiro was able to explain my shoulder issue with great care and detail. He took the time to listen to me and made me feel that he really cared. I didn’t feel rushed nor part of a huge “rush you through practice”. He took the time to review test results and explained them with great care. I left feeling like I had a good plan moving forward and look forward to returning to his care as needed. It has been a long time since I felt this sense of comfort after a doctors visit. I highly recommend him for your medical care.
Pat Higgins
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Patricia H.
I am a healthy, active female, soon to be sixty six years old.
During the spring season of 2021 I had a meniscus root tear in my left knee that I acquired while playing with my three year old grandson.
The injury wasn’t immediately evident as I had spent the next month on a road trip hiking in the mountains with no issues, other than experiencing some stiffness in my knee, which I would find relief by stretching prior to each hike. It was after I returned home when I began to experience a slight limp and weakness in the left knee. One day I took a step and had a sharp pain and soon realized I wasn’t able to bear any weight on that leg and fell.
I went to an Orthopedic clinic in Olympia, WA for x-rays and an MRI, which revealed I had a medial meniscus root tear in my left knee. The attending Ortho doctor gave me the option to either have surgery or let it heal on its own. He told me the recovery following surgery for repairing the root tear would be more difficult than having a total knee replacement. He also noted that he was the only doctor in Olympia who performed this type of surgery. After that appointment I decided to seek a second opinion. My daughter, who is an Orthopedic PA, did some research and discovered Dr. Grant Garcia. Her comment was, “Do you want a doctor who performs a limited number of these types of surgeries annually or a doctor who performs hundreds?”
Dr. Garcia reviewed the MRI and confirmed the diagnosis was accurate. I should note this type of injury most commonly occurs in sport injuries. He also explained to me that because I had little to no arthritis evident in my knees I was a good candidate for the Laparoscopic surgery. Doing nothing means in the future I would most likely develop arthritis and eventually a knee replacement. It was extremely important to me to resume my normal level of activities, i.e., hiking, kayaking and swimming.
On August 30, 2021 Dr. Garcia performed Laparoscopic surgery on my left knee to repair the MRT, which only took around forty-five minutes. I was given a pain blocker to help eliminate pain coming out of surgery. Following the surgery and throughout my recovery time I never once had ANY pain. As Dr. Garcia originally explained, the most difficult part of the recovery is the non weight bearing for eight weeks, which required using a immobilizer brace and walker and hopping around the house or to physical therapy appointments. I followed the home PT instructions explicitly and I found that I was a one to two weeks ahead in meeting my goals. By the eighth week I began hiking again, on alternate days, first couple days with a brace and then no brace. I would say currently my knee feels about 90% back to normal, however it should be back to 100% by the one year anniversary of the surgery.
Dr. Grant Garcia is a confident, exceptionally skilled Orthopedic surgeon, who listens to his patient’s needs and concerns. He clearly explains the patient’s diagnosis and provides an accurate prognosis. Above all, the proof of his abilities is in my knee.
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Kimberly T.
Dr. Reed is the best ankle doctor! Honestly one of the nicest doctors I’ve ever been to. Highly recommend. All of the staff were super nice and very helpful.
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Barbara H.
Why are you doing such a stupid thing as asking Dr. Yi's patients if you approve of his skills. Of course I approve of Dr. Yi. He took very good care of me and, as in those past experiences, I have absolutely no comments re his need for approval. Of course I approve. I wouldn't have gone back to him if I didn't think he was competent, which he certainly is.
Barbara M. Hansen
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Barbara H.
The first time I saw Dr. Yi he was kindness itself. He explained what my options were and what they entailed. When I left he told me to call if I had any questions or let him know what next step I wanted to take. A couple of weeks later I returned and felt very confident in my decision. I will return again if I need further help.
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Cynthia T.

What are the duties of a Sports Medicine Doctor?

Injuries addressed by Sports Medicine Specialists

When to see a sports medicine specialist?

Orthopedic Specialists of Seattle

Wallingford Office

Ballard Office

First Hill Office