SPORTS medicine

• Sports Medicine is a sub-specialty focusing on disease prevention, diagnosis and improving physical functioning through rehabilitation.

• While Sports Medicine physicians do treat athletes in helping them achieve peak physical performance, majority of patients treated are not athletes, but people desiring improved physical performance.

• In this sense, the practice of Sports Medicine could be called “Activity Medicine” or “Physical Medicine” or “Rehabilitation Medicine”.

• Many of the patients treated by Sports Medicine physicians are car accident, slip-and-fall and concussion patients.

• Like athletes who seek peak performance, these patients look for improved performance and quality of life.

• The majority of Sports Medicine physicians train in general practice before doing further training in Sports Medicine (some train in, physical medicine & rehabilitation, orthopaedic surgery, neurology, emergence medicine or internal medicine).

• Concussion is one of the most common conditions treated by Sports Medicine physicians.

• Sports Medicine physicians are well positioned to treat the consequences of post-concussion syndrome, drawing on a strong foundation in general practice, and further training in sports medicine.

• Many of the most commonly reported complaints made by patients to their primary care providers are conditions that are very common in post-concussion syndrome:

1. Headache
2. Neck pain, back pain and musculoskeletal pain
3. Fatigue
4. Insomnia and sleep-wake disturbances
5. Depression
6. Anxiety
7. Dizziness
8. Visual problems
9. Concentration and attention problems
10. Hormonal dysfunction
11. Nutrition
12. Weight loss
13. Cardiovascular issues
14. Autonomic dysfunction

• Moreover, they have a broad understanding in managing these conditions in the context of patients’ other health conditions, medication regimens, and in the biopsychosocial model of illness/injury.

Improving physical performance through rehabilitation and training is dependent on many aspects of one’s health:

1. Musculoskeletal
2. Neurological
3. Psychological
4. Lifestyle & habits
   1. g., diet, exercise, sleep, hydration, etc.
5. Cognition
6. Disease management and interventions
   1. g., headache pain relief, joint pain relief, injections for pain relief, etc.

Physicians specializing in post-concussion syndrome management get even further training in:

1. Vestibular assessment and treatment
2. Headache medicine
3. Biomechanical assessment and rehabilitation
4. Performance coaching
5. Applied Neuroscience and psychology
6. Psychotherapy
7. Cognitive assessments and training
8. Binocular vision assessment and treatment
9. Other specialized behavioural interventions (e.g., Biofeedback-based interventions, etc.)
10. Fatigue and sleep assessment and rehabilitation
11. Functional medicine

The Toronto Medical Clinic is quarterbacked by Dr. Taher Chugh, a sports physician, who has all of the above specialized training and experience in concussion management.