Dr. Tod Sweeney, MD, Sports and Family Medicine of Colorado, Arvada, Colorado lives the lifestyle that earns his practice the label "healthy patients, healthy doctors". A hiking, running, biking and skiing enthusiast, Dr. Sweeney has competed in events such as The Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race. A Colorado native, Dr. Sweeney attended medical school at The University of Vermont and completed a Family Medicine residency at Maine Medical Center.
A former University of Pennsylvania
baseball player, he brought his passion for athletics into the medical realm by
completing a Primary Care Sports Medicine Fellowship at The University of
Colorado. Being Board Certified in both Family and Sports Medicine is what gives
his practice the traditional feel of a family doctor with the added advantage
of sports medicine expertise and advanced medical technologies.
An accomplished lecturer and writer,
Dr. Sweeney shares his knowledge at medical conferences across the country. He
is team physician for several local sports teams and local area high schools.
Dr. Sweeney assists many local athletes with injury recovery and prevention. He
also is a clinical instructor at The University of Colorado Health Sciences
Center. We were fortunate enough to take a few minutes of Dr. Sweeney's time to
ask him about common sports injuries and their treatment.
Dr. Sweeney, what is the most common
sports injury you see in your clinic?
Dr. Sweeney: We see a lot of
different sports injuries, largely based on our training background. My partner
and I were originally trained in family medicine but we both have done
non-operative fellowships in Sports Medicine. We see a lot of sprains and
strains, a lot of knee pain, low back pain, rotator cuff injuries and we also
see a fair number of concussions.
Doctor, are there any commonly held
beliefs involving these types of injuries that may be doing people a
disservice?
Dr. Sweeney: With concussions, for
example, a lot of people believe that you have to have a loss of consciousness
to have sustained a concussion. That's not the case. The other thing is with
children, because of their open growth plates, parents don't often realize that
this is a concern and something we need to take into consideration when we are
doing our evaluation.
Are there situations you come across
where your patients are unknowingly contributing to their condition?
Dr. Sweeney: If we go back to your
first question which is some of the more common sports injuries we see, overuse
injuries are actually very common. A lot of times it's an issue where the
athlete or individual is doing something too frequent or too intense or the
duration is not appropriate. They may be unknowingly contributing to an overuse
injury by doing the activity too frequently, too intense or too long.
Some of our endurance athletes, for
instance, we find that sometimes they try to push through the pain when in fact
they should be limiting their activities to minimize further injury. A lot of
times with overuse injuries they will reach that tipping point where it becomes
an issue that really sidelines them.
Is it possible to treat an injury
and still stay active?
Dr. Sweeney: Yes, it is. The key is
if they can engage in an activity that doesn't delay the recovery process or do
further harm.
Doctor, is there anything people
should do before seeking treatment for a sports injury?
Dr. Sweeney: I think doing research
on the physician. It's important to find a physician that is properly trained
and board certified in sports medicine.
I think the patient should also have a goal in terms of do they want to know what the diagnosis is, what the prognosis is and what the treatment strategy should be. So I think having goals is key but certainly finding someone who is well trained in their area of concern.
Doctor Sweeney, thanks for giving us
some insight into sports injuries and their treatment.
Dr. Sweeney: It was my pleasure
Dr. Tod Sweeney, MD, Sports and
Family Medicine of Colorado, Arvada, Colorado, can be contacted at his clinic
in Arvada at 720-898-1110. The clinic website is sfmcolorado.com and the sports
concussion center website is sportsccc.com
Kevin Nimmo is a writer and online
media strategist. He interviews subject matter experts and educates his readers
based on information provided by experts in their respective fields. He is also
Executive Editor of The Western Medical Journal.
0 Responses so far.
Post a Comment