Many people are misled by the name; however, sports medicine is not restricted to the field of athletics. This orthopedic segment relates to the treatment of injuries caused due to any physical activity. The main causes of these injuries include over exertion, trauma, overuse, or over extension of joint ligaments. Although, such injuries can affect any part of the body, the most common injuries are caused to the hips, knees, shoulders, and ankles.

Many medical facilities across the country are showing some trends in this field. A larger number of orthopedic doctors are choosing sports medicine as their specialized field. A fast emerging trend in this field is the establishment of higher facilities for specialized multi disciplinary sports medicine facilities.

Treatment of these surgeries does not necessarily imply surgery but requires the services of specially trained professionals, such as nutritionists, physical therapists, athletic trainers, and sports psychologists. Therefore, more medical facilities are now hiring athletic trainers to provide the emerging multi disciplinary centers.
Presently most facilities concentrate on treating athletes who are injured during a match or a practice session. A large number of facilities and physicians are concentrating on preventing these injuries by conducting Saturday morning clinics for sports medicine. During these sessions, the physicians explain how to prevent these injuries to minimize the need for treatments.

Another trend seen in this field is the spreading of awareness on preventing anterior cruciate ligament injuries, which are more common in women. A large number of these injuries are preventable and physicians are conducting camps to spread awareness on these preventive measures.

New trends are also emerging in advanced surgical procedures for knee injuries focusing on cartilage restoration to reduce the need for knee replacement surgeries. Some other trends in the sports medicine field are use of shock wave therapies, enhanced MRI techniques for better diagnosis, minimal invasive surgical procedures, and management of concussions.