Not a lot of us are familiar with sports medicine. Sports medicine is a specialized branch of medicine that primarily deals with physical fitness, treatment and prevention of injuries relating to physical activities involving sports and exercise.

Although it is a specialized branch, sports medicine is also a complex system that covers a vast field of interests such as prevention, clinical diagnostic and education, immediate care, treatment, rehabilitation and reconditioning, organizations and administration and professional responsibility. This complex system employs various medicine professionals and specialists foremost of which is the orthopedics.

In recent years however, sports medicine has evolved into sports and exercise medicine or simply called SEM. A qualified sports medicine specialist can be any medical professional practicing in orthopedic, rheumatology, musculoskeletal radiology, or general practitioner. These medical practitioners must have achieved a certain level of training before they are allowed to work as a specialist in sports and exercise medicine.

The most common injuries that need immediate medical attention from a sports medicine specialist are the following: ankle sprain, muscle cramps, shin splints, ACL sprains and concussion. The sports medicine specialist who is usually involved in these kinds of injuries is an orthopedic specialist.

Any person who is active in sports and any strenuous physical fitness programs shall always pay attention to the proper way of doing certain activities to avoid injuries that may arise. Injuries are common to people who fail to follow the proper execution of activities or ignorance of the rules set forth. Although accidents can happen sometimes.

Sports medicine professionals such as orthopedics specialists are always involved in promoting the benefits one gets from doing physical fitness programs such as exercise and light sports for non-athletes. It is a good idea to consult a qualified orthopedic specialist if you want to involve in a physical fitness programs such as sports and other physical activities.