You’re active in sports, so that means, there’s going to come a time when you need some sports medicine. But what exactly does that entail? And how can you get some help at Tulsa Spine & Rehab, well Dr. Sean O. Riley is here to explain to us exactly how Tulsa Spine & Rehab supports athletes who have some needs.
Transcript:
Yeah, Charlie. So I was an athlete growing up. I was very active, I enjoyed sports, really enjoyed playing soccer and football. I just played a wide variety of things. So as an old athlete, I think that was one of the things that really appealed to me to chiropractic, treating the musculo-skeletal system, the muscle joints, the nervous system, and so forth. I was pretty lucky as an athlete, I didn’t have a history of any nasty injuries, just kind of nagging sprain/strains. So kind of that led me into chiropractic, and obviously, that’s something that I’m very passionate about, sports and athletics.
So that’s something that we wanted to highlight here at Tulsa Spine & Rehab. I think that we’re a very well-rounded clinic, Charlie. I’ve spoken about the multitude of providers and options we have, from cryotherapy to physical therapy, whatever the case may be. New laser therapy that we have in the clinic. But we also see a wide variety of patients. I see a lot of mothers, new moms that have just recently had a child, with low back pain, or a 52-year-old accountant that sits for eight hours a day, and suffering from chronic upper back and neck pain. Young children, geriatrics, older folks, so just a wide variety of folks that we see.
And we also see a lot of athletes. And over the years, my experience with this demographic of patients, I’ve gone on to further my education because we want the latest and greatest. We’ve spoken about my involvement with the USGA and the US Open, I’m obviously a big fan of golf. I work with a lot of high-level golfers and so forth, weekend warriors on the golf course. My involvement with the Tulsa Roughnecks, the professional soccer team here in Tulsa. Working with those athletes, and then various other high-level college athletes, student athletes in high school, middle school, whatever the case may be. My experience with these athletes and the training that we’ve done, we need to provide a high level of service. What I mean by that is, we feel like we’re very competent in making the diagnosis of what their condition may be, and from there, making the appropriate recommendation. Do they need a surgical consult, do they need imaging, chiropractic, physical therapy.
So once, going back to the diagnosis is so very, very important, because they need to end up with the correct provider. Many of these athletes, they have a goal. That goal is, “I want to continue to play at a high level,” or weekend golfer, “I just want to continue to play with my buddies.” Ultimately, they want to continue with that activity at somewhat of the level they were performing at. The other thing that we need to be very careful about, we need to be concerned about aggravating the potential injury. Could playing potentially make it worse, create another issue? So we talk about diagnosis, figuring out what their problem is, and making the appropriate recommendation, but also trying to figure out when we might need to shut that athlete down.
So when you need some help with sports medicine, you’re really the first place to start?
Well, I can be. That’s for sure. Like I said, we work with a fair amount of athletes. Obviously, an orthopedist would be a good starting point as well. Many times, these aren’t surgical cases. Many times, these types of injuries can be maintained or managed with conservative care, whether it’s chiropractic, physical therapy, massage. Now, sure. There are those cases when you’re going to get a nasty meniscus injury or an ACL, or a rotator cuff. Unfortunately, it might be a surgical case. That’s a big part of this process, Charlie, is that we need to get you in front of the right provider, and from there obviously make the appropriate recommendations on what needs to happen next, and get you back to playing at that high level that you’ve enjoyed.
And that’s just another example of how we help you get moving at Tulsa Spine & Rehab. You can learn more about Tulsa Spine & Rehab and all the many services that are available by touring around the website, and of course, remember you can sign up for Dr. O. Riley’s newsletter, it goes out every week, and you can get free tips from him in the newsletter, by signing up here at Tulsa Spine & Rehab.
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