If you have acute, sports related injuries that don’t resolve with rest, reach out to Franciscan Health’s team of sports medicine specialists. We can help determine a course of care that will get you back to enjoying the activities you love.
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What is a Sports Medicine Specialist?
Featuring:
Blake Averill, MD
Dr. Blake Averill is a sports medicine specialist with Franciscan Physician Network. Dr. Averill received his medical degree from the University of Louisville School of Medicine. He completed his residency in family medicine and his fellowship in sports medicine. Dr. Averill treats a variety of conditions including but not limited to acute and chronic joint pain, stress fractures, overuse injuries, tendon/ligament/muscle injuries and concussion management. He currently serves as assistant team physician for the Indianapolis Indians and Butler University athletics. He is also the head team physician for Martinsville High School. Transcription:
Scott Webb: We know that sports are huge in the state of Indiana, especially high school sports, and we also know that sports injuries are common. And joining me today to tell us about the most common sports injuries and how he and his colleagues can help prevent and treat them is Dr. Blake Averill. He's a sports medicine specialist with Franciscan Health.
This is the Franciscan Health Doc Pod. I'm Scott Webb. So doctor, thanks so much for your time today. We were just kind of talking before we got rolling here. I have a couple of kids and they've had lots of injuries and been to the trainer and orthopedic surgeon and all of that. So, great having you on.
Just to kind of set the scene for everybody here, what is a sports medicine specialist? And maybe tell us about the conditions, issues, and injuries that a sports medicine specialist would evaluate and treat.
Dr. Blake Averill: Yeah. Well, first off, thanks for having me. Happy to be here and hopefully spread a little bit of. Information about sports medicine. So when people ask me, I kind of use the analogy that we're like the primary care of orthopedics. So, we're not surgeons, but we should hopefully be the first person you see for anything that happened. So, I try to key a little catchphrase. I say, "If you have any ache, pain, or injury, come see me. And I'll see what we need to do." It's a little bit of a variety. So, you know, just last couple weeks in clinic, I've seen a five-year-old who fell and broke their wrist, I've seen a 16-year-old who twisted their ankle, I saw a 40-year-old who's trying to get back in shape and tweaked a hamstring, and I've seen a 70-year-old who's shoulders hurting and just wants to play nine holes. You know, it's a little bit of everything.
Scott Webb: Yeah, I'm sure it is. And I'm sure it makes your days interesting. And you mentioned, when it comes to sports medicine, you're kind of like the primary care docs, but you're not exactly primary care docs. So, maybe you could give us the distinction there. All of us, when we go see our primary care doctors on our physicals once a year or whatever it is, what you do kind of compared to that experience?
Dr. Blake Averill: Right. So, myself included, the majority of sports medicine specialists did complete a residency in family medicine, but then went on to do an additional fellowship in sports medicine. But it's not just family medicine, you can go on to do that sports med training if you did a residency in pediatrics, emergency medicine, internal medicine, and physiatry. So, we all come from different backgrounds, but have chosen to get that additional training to really focus on that musculoskeletal medicine.
Scott Webb: Yeah, I see what you mean. So, you could be PCPs if you wanted to be, but you wanted to get into sports and sports medicine. So, let's talk about that then. You know, who can benefit? You mentioned the range of patients you've seen, but who really benefits from seeing someone like yourself and, you know, what kind of patients do you typically see? Is it always people, folks after an injury or is it folks who want to get back into things, as you say, working out or playing golf or things they did when they were younger? May maybe take us through that.
Dr. Blake Averill: Yeah, I think the majority of people we see is going to be after the fact, but I'd like to see people more before the fact. Usually, it's more the acute injury, "I had a fall," you know, "I tweaked my calf muscle," "I threw my shoulder out because I was putting up the Christmas lights," you know, something like that.
Scott Webb: Yeah.
Dr. Blake Averill: But we do have a good amount of people who will come and see us either before they start training, say, "Hey, I want to run a 5K" or "I want to do a half marathon. Some people will try to come see us beforehand to see what we could add to them. And I think that's where the, I would say, uniqueness and what really I enjoy about sports medicine is how well we collaborate with other people. So depending on what injury you have or what race you're training for, I can get you connected with, you know, a dietician, a physical therapist, an occupation therapist. We have an athletic training staff. I can also talk to our orthopedic surgeons if there's an issue, so we do a really good job of making sure we bring everyone to the table and give you the best information you can have.
Scott Webb: Yeah. That's awesome. It really does. Using a sports analogy, I told you my daughter plays basketball. It sounds like you're a bit like the point guard when it comes to sports medicine, sports care, and working with all the other folks. You know, my daughter, as you well know, as teenage girls are more susceptible to ligament injuries, especially ACL. So, I actually took her beforehand, you know, and we worked with a physical therapist to develop some exercises and things to hopefully try to avoid an ACL tear. And so, I'm right with you thinking that it would be great if more folks came to you before they got hurt, rather than always the sort of acute injuries.
I wanted to ask you though, when we think about sort of the teams, if you will, through that lens for athletes, you know, why do you believe a sports medicine specialist should be, you know, a part of their regular care team, not just their PCP in this case.
Dr. Blake Averill: Are you referring to athletes in particular?
Scott Webb: Yeah, I think so. I think athletes, just sort of broadly speaking, what would you like them to know? And why would you like them to understand that, for their benefit, for their overall health, for their future in sports, however far they're going to go, why they would really benefit by having someone like you, you know, either leading their team or a part of their team?
Dr. Blake Averill: I think that's a great question and brings up a lot of what we have to offer. And I say this as the son of two coaches who grew up in that era of rub your dirt on it, you know, keep playing. In high school, I even had a concussion, and I'm not even that old. But back then my parents were like, "Oh, you just got your bell rung. Go back and play," you know? So now, that I've been trained to know these things, I think part of what we can bring to the table is, A, sometimes you need someone to protect you from yourself. We're all extremely competitive people, and you want to do what you can, but we can provide that perspective of, "Hey, I know high school basketball is very important right now, but maybe you want to think about how your knee is going to look when you're 30 or 40 or 50." So one, just having that length perspective, but also letting you know when we assess an injury that we're not only there to hold you out of sport. We can assess an injury and say, "Hey, this isn't season ending, but this is how we can manage it to keep you playing through the year." And I think a lot of times those kids and myself included back in the day, we wouldn't tell anyone something was hurting until it was too late, and then you miss more time. So, the earlier you come to us, the quicker we could probably get you back.
Scott Webb: So, doctor, you know, we've talked a little bit about today, not always wanting to see people after the fact with those acute injuries and maybe try to prevent those injuries. So maybe you can give us some examples of how you can help folks to prevent those injuries.
Dr. Blake Averill: Yeah. We see a lot of kids, like you said, after the fact too. For instance, in baseball, they've got this shoulder injury or they're a runner and they develop these stress fractures. So if they have any type of pain or just curiosity at all, they can come in and we can do a full assessment in my office where I can look at their dynamics, look at their arches, look at how they walk and how they run. I can watch how their shoulders are moving. And then the next level, we actually have some fantastic sports medicine-trained physical therapists. So, we have running specialists that can put you on the treadmill, they'll video camera you from behind and from the side. Look at your gait. Look at your steps. Same thing over in our Morrisville PT, we have a really great, I say, overhead athletes, so volleyball, tennis, baseball, they can watch your mechanics. And the idea is that, one, we can prevent injury, but all the people I've sent, they're that much better of a runner or a thrower after the fact because they're using all the right muscles. So, I think that's a pretty cool thing we can do.
Scott Webb: Yeah, I see what you mean. And you're so right, and you certainly have a frame of reference there with the coaches, you know, and your family. You know, I know that you're here in Indiana and there's nothing more important perhaps in Indiana than high school athletics, high school basketball especially. So, I wanted to have you talk a little bit about, as we finish up here, the role that Franciscan Health Sports Medicine specialists play just in high school athletics in the state of Indiana.
Dr. Blake Averill: Yeah, I think it really starts with that multidisciplinary approach. So, Franciscan has made it a priority to be a part of the community that we're in. So, we have contracts with numerous high schools around Indianapolis, and part of that contract is that we have athletic trainers on site, and that's their primary job, whether it be middle school or high school. They see the athletes every day, they're at all the games. And one, that continuity I think plays a great part in improved care because if you know the kind of person they are or the injuries they've had in the past, it definitely helps the athletic trainers communicate with those young athletes so much better.
And then, where we come in is we can work with them, get that information from the athletic trainers, but also be on the sideline for these types of things. You know, scary things happen in especially contact sports like football, and it's always good to have somebody who's trained in, you know, spine injuries and brain injuries to make sure we're doing the right stuff right away.
Scott Webb: Yeah, that sounds right to me. I was born in Elkhart and my folks went to IU. So, I'm really sort of immersed in Indiana sports, high school sports and, you know, talked to you today about my kids a little bit, but I think it's just so important to get the word out that we don't just always have to see folks like yourself, you know, after acute injuries, but to know that you're there on the sidelines as a part of the team, you know, helping to facilitate care. It's all good stuff and it's been really great to learn today. So doctor, thanks so much for your time. You stay well
Dr. Blake Averill: Thank you very much.
Scott Webb: And for more information, go to franciscanhealth.org/sportstraining. And if you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social channels and be sure to check out the full podcast library for additional topics of interest. This is the Franciscan Health Doc Pod. I'm Scott Webb. Stay well, and we'll talk again next time.
Scott Webb: We know that sports are huge in the state of Indiana, especially high school sports, and we also know that sports injuries are common. And joining me today to tell us about the most common sports injuries and how he and his colleagues can help prevent and treat them is Dr. Blake Averill. He's a sports medicine specialist with Franciscan Health.
This is the Franciscan Health Doc Pod. I'm Scott Webb. So doctor, thanks so much for your time today. We were just kind of talking before we got rolling here. I have a couple of kids and they've had lots of injuries and been to the trainer and orthopedic surgeon and all of that. So, great having you on.
Just to kind of set the scene for everybody here, what is a sports medicine specialist? And maybe tell us about the conditions, issues, and injuries that a sports medicine specialist would evaluate and treat.
Dr. Blake Averill: Yeah. Well, first off, thanks for having me. Happy to be here and hopefully spread a little bit of. Information about sports medicine. So when people ask me, I kind of use the analogy that we're like the primary care of orthopedics. So, we're not surgeons, but we should hopefully be the first person you see for anything that happened. So, I try to key a little catchphrase. I say, "If you have any ache, pain, or injury, come see me. And I'll see what we need to do." It's a little bit of a variety. So, you know, just last couple weeks in clinic, I've seen a five-year-old who fell and broke their wrist, I've seen a 16-year-old who twisted their ankle, I saw a 40-year-old who's trying to get back in shape and tweaked a hamstring, and I've seen a 70-year-old who's shoulders hurting and just wants to play nine holes. You know, it's a little bit of everything.
Scott Webb: Yeah, I'm sure it is. And I'm sure it makes your days interesting. And you mentioned, when it comes to sports medicine, you're kind of like the primary care docs, but you're not exactly primary care docs. So, maybe you could give us the distinction there. All of us, when we go see our primary care doctors on our physicals once a year or whatever it is, what you do kind of compared to that experience?
Dr. Blake Averill: Right. So, myself included, the majority of sports medicine specialists did complete a residency in family medicine, but then went on to do an additional fellowship in sports medicine. But it's not just family medicine, you can go on to do that sports med training if you did a residency in pediatrics, emergency medicine, internal medicine, and physiatry. So, we all come from different backgrounds, but have chosen to get that additional training to really focus on that musculoskeletal medicine.
Scott Webb: Yeah, I see what you mean. So, you could be PCPs if you wanted to be, but you wanted to get into sports and sports medicine. So, let's talk about that then. You know, who can benefit? You mentioned the range of patients you've seen, but who really benefits from seeing someone like yourself and, you know, what kind of patients do you typically see? Is it always people, folks after an injury or is it folks who want to get back into things, as you say, working out or playing golf or things they did when they were younger? May maybe take us through that.
Dr. Blake Averill: Yeah, I think the majority of people we see is going to be after the fact, but I'd like to see people more before the fact. Usually, it's more the acute injury, "I had a fall," you know, "I tweaked my calf muscle," "I threw my shoulder out because I was putting up the Christmas lights," you know, something like that.
Scott Webb: Yeah.
Dr. Blake Averill: But we do have a good amount of people who will come and see us either before they start training, say, "Hey, I want to run a 5K" or "I want to do a half marathon. Some people will try to come see us beforehand to see what we could add to them. And I think that's where the, I would say, uniqueness and what really I enjoy about sports medicine is how well we collaborate with other people. So depending on what injury you have or what race you're training for, I can get you connected with, you know, a dietician, a physical therapist, an occupation therapist. We have an athletic training staff. I can also talk to our orthopedic surgeons if there's an issue, so we do a really good job of making sure we bring everyone to the table and give you the best information you can have.
Scott Webb: Yeah. That's awesome. It really does. Using a sports analogy, I told you my daughter plays basketball. It sounds like you're a bit like the point guard when it comes to sports medicine, sports care, and working with all the other folks. You know, my daughter, as you well know, as teenage girls are more susceptible to ligament injuries, especially ACL. So, I actually took her beforehand, you know, and we worked with a physical therapist to develop some exercises and things to hopefully try to avoid an ACL tear. And so, I'm right with you thinking that it would be great if more folks came to you before they got hurt, rather than always the sort of acute injuries.
I wanted to ask you though, when we think about sort of the teams, if you will, through that lens for athletes, you know, why do you believe a sports medicine specialist should be, you know, a part of their regular care team, not just their PCP in this case.
Dr. Blake Averill: Are you referring to athletes in particular?
Scott Webb: Yeah, I think so. I think athletes, just sort of broadly speaking, what would you like them to know? And why would you like them to understand that, for their benefit, for their overall health, for their future in sports, however far they're going to go, why they would really benefit by having someone like you, you know, either leading their team or a part of their team?
Dr. Blake Averill: I think that's a great question and brings up a lot of what we have to offer. And I say this as the son of two coaches who grew up in that era of rub your dirt on it, you know, keep playing. In high school, I even had a concussion, and I'm not even that old. But back then my parents were like, "Oh, you just got your bell rung. Go back and play," you know? So now, that I've been trained to know these things, I think part of what we can bring to the table is, A, sometimes you need someone to protect you from yourself. We're all extremely competitive people, and you want to do what you can, but we can provide that perspective of, "Hey, I know high school basketball is very important right now, but maybe you want to think about how your knee is going to look when you're 30 or 40 or 50." So one, just having that length perspective, but also letting you know when we assess an injury that we're not only there to hold you out of sport. We can assess an injury and say, "Hey, this isn't season ending, but this is how we can manage it to keep you playing through the year." And I think a lot of times those kids and myself included back in the day, we wouldn't tell anyone something was hurting until it was too late, and then you miss more time. So, the earlier you come to us, the quicker we could probably get you back.
Scott Webb: So, doctor, you know, we've talked a little bit about today, not always wanting to see people after the fact with those acute injuries and maybe try to prevent those injuries. So maybe you can give us some examples of how you can help folks to prevent those injuries.
Dr. Blake Averill: Yeah. We see a lot of kids, like you said, after the fact too. For instance, in baseball, they've got this shoulder injury or they're a runner and they develop these stress fractures. So if they have any type of pain or just curiosity at all, they can come in and we can do a full assessment in my office where I can look at their dynamics, look at their arches, look at how they walk and how they run. I can watch how their shoulders are moving. And then the next level, we actually have some fantastic sports medicine-trained physical therapists. So, we have running specialists that can put you on the treadmill, they'll video camera you from behind and from the side. Look at your gait. Look at your steps. Same thing over in our Morrisville PT, we have a really great, I say, overhead athletes, so volleyball, tennis, baseball, they can watch your mechanics. And the idea is that, one, we can prevent injury, but all the people I've sent, they're that much better of a runner or a thrower after the fact because they're using all the right muscles. So, I think that's a pretty cool thing we can do.
Scott Webb: Yeah, I see what you mean. And you're so right, and you certainly have a frame of reference there with the coaches, you know, and your family. You know, I know that you're here in Indiana and there's nothing more important perhaps in Indiana than high school athletics, high school basketball especially. So, I wanted to have you talk a little bit about, as we finish up here, the role that Franciscan Health Sports Medicine specialists play just in high school athletics in the state of Indiana.
Dr. Blake Averill: Yeah, I think it really starts with that multidisciplinary approach. So, Franciscan has made it a priority to be a part of the community that we're in. So, we have contracts with numerous high schools around Indianapolis, and part of that contract is that we have athletic trainers on site, and that's their primary job, whether it be middle school or high school. They see the athletes every day, they're at all the games. And one, that continuity I think plays a great part in improved care because if you know the kind of person they are or the injuries they've had in the past, it definitely helps the athletic trainers communicate with those young athletes so much better.
And then, where we come in is we can work with them, get that information from the athletic trainers, but also be on the sideline for these types of things. You know, scary things happen in especially contact sports like football, and it's always good to have somebody who's trained in, you know, spine injuries and brain injuries to make sure we're doing the right stuff right away.
Scott Webb: Yeah, that sounds right to me. I was born in Elkhart and my folks went to IU. So, I'm really sort of immersed in Indiana sports, high school sports and, you know, talked to you today about my kids a little bit, but I think it's just so important to get the word out that we don't just always have to see folks like yourself, you know, after acute injuries, but to know that you're there on the sidelines as a part of the team, you know, helping to facilitate care. It's all good stuff and it's been really great to learn today. So doctor, thanks so much for your time. You stay well
Dr. Blake Averill: Thank you very much.
Scott Webb: And for more information, go to franciscanhealth.org/sportstraining. And if you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social channels and be sure to check out the full podcast library for additional topics of interest. This is the Franciscan Health Doc Pod. I'm Scott Webb. Stay well, and we'll talk again next time.