Sports Medicine

Most sports injuries require only conservative treatment, such as medications, injections, bracing and physical therapy. Our sports medicine providers offer these services and other nonsurgical treatments for active people — from student athletes and weekend warriors to elite athletes and professional teams:

• Occupational and physical therapy: After an injury, orthopedic rehabilitation can relieve pain and help you regain strength, mobility and function for daily activities. Learn more about physical and occupational therapy.
• Injections: Corticosteroid injections, trigger point injections, nerve blocks and other injections can relieve pain and swelling due to certain injuries.
• Concussion care: We evaluate head injuries and symptoms to diagnose concussions and provide care to manage pain, dizziness and other symptoms at. You can find our concussion care at Saint Francis Hospital and Saint Mary's Hospital.
• Sports medicine services: Our sports medicine providers help ensure safe sports participation with services that include:
  • Pre-participation physicals to ensure that student athletes are fit to play
  • Injury prevention and rehabilitation programs, in coordination with schools’ athletic trainers
  • Sideline evaluation of athletes injured during play
  • Personalized return-to-play pathways for each person and each injury
  • Support and advice for local and regional walking and running clubs, including the Hartford Marathon Foundation, to help participants stay healthy and active

Sometimes, nonsurgical treatment may stop working for you, or you may have a more serious injury. If you need surgery, our experienced orthopedic surgeons offer advanced minimally invasive arthroscopic and open surgical techniques.

Most of our surgeries are outpatient procedures, so you can go home the same day. Your surgeon will discuss options with you to determine the right procedure for your needs. Learn more about orthopedic surgery.

• Minimally invasive surgery: Minimally invasive techniques typically use a few small incisions rather than a long incision. With these procedures, you may experience less pain, a lower risk of complications and a shorter recovery time. Minimally invasive procedures available at Trinity Health Of New England include:
  • Arthroscopy: Our surgeons use a scope (a thin instrument with a tiny camera) and other miniature instruments to examine and treat tissue inside joints. We use arthroscopy to treat a wide range of injuries in almost every joint.
  • Percutaneous fracture fixation: Complex fractures may require surgery and hardware to align and connect bones. Surgeons make small incisions and reposition the pieces of bone using imaging to guide them. They attach screws, rods or other hardware to hold bones in place. We sometimes use arthroscopic techniques in these procedures.
• Open surgery: Open (traditional) surgery, with usually one incision, can provide more effective treatment for many injuries. At Trinity Health Of New England, we perform open surgery for:
  • Joint replacements: Some chronic sports injuries can cause joints to deteriorate over time and require joint replacement surgery for hips, knees and shoulders. Learn more about joint replacement surgery and the Connecticut Joint Replacement Institute (CJRI).
  • Revision surgery: Our surgeons perform revision surgeries using open techniques to address complications that developed after a previous surgery or replace worn-out artificial implants.
  • Tendon and ligament repair: Certain tendon and ligament injuries require open surgery. Surgeons may repair, reconstruct or reattach tendons or ligaments to bones and muscles.
  • Fracture repair: Severe fractures may require open surgery to reposition bones and place hardware to stabilize them for proper healing.

Athletic training encompasses the prevention, examination, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of emergent, acute or chronic injuries and medical conditions. Athletic training is recognized by the American Medical Association (AMA), Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as an allied health care profession. Athletic trainers provide medical services to all types of patients, not just athletes participating in sports, and can work in a variety of job settings. Athletic trainers relieve widespread and future workforce shortages in primary care support and outpatient rehab professions and provide an unparalleled continuum of care for the patients.

Athletic trainers improve functional outcomes and specialize in patient education to prevent injury and re-injury. Preventative care provided by an athletic trainer has a positive return on investment for employers. ATs are able to reduce injury and shorten rehabilitation time for their patients, which translates to lower absenteeism from work or school and reduced health care costs.  Athletic Trainers are health care professionals who collaborate with doctors to diagnose and treat sports injuries and other health problems. Our athletic trainers also provide preventive services, emergency care, and rehab services. Our ATs work with Hartford Public high schools, colleges, and pro sports teams throughout Connecticut. We offer:

• Fast-track appointments for contracted schools
• Health care services at home and away practices, events, and games
• On-site weight assessments and tips for wrestling programs
• Guidance on pre-season, in-season, and off-season conditioning programs
• ImPACT® concussion testing
• ACL prevention and screening programs
• On-site, sport-specific education programs for student athletes, parents, and coaches
• Sport-specific training camps and clinics
• Annual sports medicine student aide workshop
• Medical coverage, lectures, and injury prevention screenings for performing arts groups

• Injury surveillance—Athletic trainers are often able to provide injury prevention screenings to detect underlying conditions, as well as factors that may predispose athletes to overuse injuries. They also are trained to deliver health care services that include:
  • emergency care at practices, events, and games;
  • provide ImPACT® concussion testing; and monitor injury rehabilitation to help athletes return safely to their sports.
• Develop a proper training plan—This involves more than just strength and cardio. Young athletes should develop a training plan that incorporates rest days to allow the body to heal. It is also recommended that the athletes complete stretching exercises before and after training to improve flexibility. Athletic trainers can provide guidance on pre-season, in-season, and off-season conditioning.
• Know your body and its limitations—Young athletes, especially baseball pitchers, attempt to throw hundreds of pitches a week to prepare for the season. This often leads to arm fatigue, tendonitis, and other injuries. To prevent overuse injuries, coaches and athletes should monitor and limit the amount of time allowed for any repetitive activity.
• Replace worn out or old equipment when necessary—Soccer players and runners tend to suffer from shin splints, a painful inflammation caused by excessive training or running in worn-out shoes. To prevent this injury, it is recommended that shoes be replaced after 300 to 500 miles of use. Also, be sure to replace any piece of equipment that no longer fits securely.
• Take time to rest and recover—It’s not uncommon for athletes to jump from one sports season to another or from their high school team to a club team to keep a competitive edge year-round. Athletes should take time off between sports seasons to allow their bodies to recover. For a multisport athlete, consider taking 10 days off between seasons. For a single-sport athlete, four to six weeks of rest is recommended.
• Plan ahead—Proper nutrition helps young athletes fuel athletic performance and recover from training. Plan and prepare portable snacks or meals.

• What happens if my young athlete is injured in their sport?
  • If your young athlete is injured at a school-sanctioned athletic practice, scrimmage, or game, an athletic trainer will be on site to assess and treat their injury. They will also contact the athlete’s parents/guardians via their emergency contact number to notify them of the injury. If the injury is acute, the athletic trainer will provide the athlete with a notepad including home instructions to treat the acute injury, notes on whether the athlete requires physician approval to return to play, details on their follow-up appointment with the AT, and the AT’s personal contact information.
• What if my young athlete needs further treatment?
  • If your young athlete’s injury is severe, the athletic trainer will immediately contact emergency medical services and the athlete’s parents/guardians. However, if the injury is worse than acute, but less than severe, the AT will work with you to schedule a fast-tracked appointment with a Trinity Sports Medicine physician, in addition to providing the information outlined in the previous FAQ.
• Are athletic trainers available when school is not in session?
  • Some high school athletic trainers have summer and holiday hours during which they can assess and treat injuries that occur at school-sanctioned practices, scrimmages, and games. Contact your school’s athletic department to find out if this applies to your school.
• Are athletic training services free?
  • There is no cost associated with your young athlete’s visit to the athletic trainer. However, if the athlete requires further treatment from a Trinity Health Of New England physician, from a PCP, or from an emergency department, those visits will come at their typical costs.