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Now, injuries can be taken sportively
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"Joint injuries occur more commonly among people who are more active and whose day-to-day activity includes a lot of physical motion as in sports. If not treated immediately, a joint injury like meniscal tear could lead to severe disability due to damage and roughening of articular cartilage"
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GONE ARE the days of carrying any niggling injury lifelong. With advancements in orthopaedic surgery, even a major ligament tear can now be rectified. The stress of a modern man is more than what it was a decade ago. The level of activity is much more now, subjecting the body to lot of stress and strain, which ultimately results in joint injuries.
Till recently, sportsmen and women had to retire well before achieving their best because of an injury. But, now the situation is totally different. With the introduction of arthroscopy, they need not resign with drooping shoulders and in fact, they can hold their heads aloft, for they can return to the field in fine fettle in a short span of time.
All this is possible only because of the sports injury specialists. "It is a highly specialised field with minimum number of takers, considering the amount of risk involved. For a sportsperson, his whole life depends on his sports and so takes utmost care to maintain his physique. He feels his life doomed when he is injured. The injury may haunt him lifelong. Hence, the responsibility of a sports injury specialist is much more than that of an orthopaedist," says Palanivelrajan, one of the few sports injury specialists in the country.
Fear of being sidelined forces many sportspersons to `carry' injury and continue to represent the club or State. They also pretend as if they are fit for their profession, but their performance level will come down as they prolong and in some cases, the injury gets aggravated crippling him.
"Many sportspersons hide their injuries and want to take treatment in secrecy, for they do not want their bosses and colleagues to brand them under injury list," feels Dr.Palanivelrajan.
Though there are different genres in sports injury treatment, Dr. Palanivelrajan concentrates on joint injuries. "Specialising in all fields is not possible and if a doctor does it, he may not be able to do justice to his profession, which I do not want to do. That is why I am concentrating on joints," he notes.
"Joint injuries occur more commonly among people who are more active and whose day-to-day activity includes a lot of physical motion as in sports. If not treated immediately, a joint injury like meniscal tear could lead to severe disability due to damage and roughening of articular cartilage," he says.
"Meniscus is a cartilage designed to absorb the shock of our weight and motion of our body. Cruciate and collateral ligaments connect thigh and leg bone, providing stability to knee. These meniscus and cruciate ligaments are more prone to injuries," Dr.Palanivelrajan explains.
As diagnostic techniques like X-rays can provide just a skeletal view of bones, arthroscopy treatment has become imperative for finding out any injury to ligaments.
Arthroscopy of joint involves accurate assessment of ligament damage by endoscopic examination and surgery using miniature treatments. It is more or less same as laparoscope.
With 100 per cent accuracy and better success rate with less morbidity, arthroscopic surgery has become such a big hit among sportspersons.
"Rehabilitation, too, plays a vital role in getting back to normalcy. The quick recovery of the patient depends on his response to the physiotherapy treatment. If the corrective surgery occupies 50 per cent of the treatment the other 50 per cent belongs to the rehabilitation," says Dr.Palanivelrajan.
Though medical practice in the country has often been slow to respond to the changing needs of more fitness-conscious society, things are moving in the positive direction, as the patient insists on the type of treatment for his ailment. But many of the fitness-conscious people are quite unaware of the ill effects of exercising without proper medical advice. It may vary from muscle rupture to knee injuries, and here is where, the sports injury clinics have come in as a boon.
Sports medicine not only treats the injury but also makes the patient get back to his original pre-injury level of activity and prevents re-injury.
Dr. Palanivelrajan could be contacted through his e-mail address: pvrajan@sportsmedindia.com and for further details surf into www.sportsmedindia.com.
T. SARAVANAN
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Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
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