You don't need to be an athlete to benefit from sports medicine care. Whether you are weekend warrior, a professional athlete, or someone who just likes to keep active, when pain begins to interfere with your daily life, it might be time to see a physician to assess your pain. The key is to stay active so you can stay in the game.
Orthopedic surgeon Dr. John Locke shares his best advice to prevent sports injuries before they happen, and if they happen, he discusses the best ways to treat and manage the injury.
Selected Podcast
Staying Active and in the Game, Sports Medicine
Featured Speaker:
John Locke, MD
John Locke, MD is an orthopedic surgery specialist in Corona, CA and a member of the medical staff at Temecula Valley Hospital and has been practicing for 27 years. He graduated from Usuhs F E Hebert Sch Of Med in 1991 and specializes in orthopedic surgery. Transcription:
Staying Active and in the Game, Sports Medicine
Melanie Cole (Host): Whether you’re a weekend warrior or professional athlete, someone who likes to golf or play tennis, or just likes to keep active, if pain begins to interfere with your daily life, it may be time to see a physician to assess your pain. My guest today, is Dr. John Locke. He’s an Orthopedic Surgeon and Chair in the Department of Surgery and a member of the medical staff at Temecula Valley Hospital.
Dr. Locke, I’d like to just start by asking you what is sports medicine? Does it help only athletes? And please explain for us a little bit about the difference between a sports medicine physician and an orthopedic surgeon.
Dr. John Locke (Guest): Yeah, I completed my orthopedic surgery training at Stanford University, and then did another one year of training at the University of California, in San Diego. From an orthopedic standpoint, sports medicine means arthroscopy, which means looking inside of the joint — usually knees or shoulders — with a small incision and a scope, and smoothing things out on the inside. From an orthopedic surgery standpoint, sports medicine surgery often means it’s a very small incision, minimally-invasive surgery.
Now, from a different standpoint, sports medicine means working with athletes, whether it’s high school athletes, college, or professional athletes, which we do as well, but at the end of the day, we are all athletes. We’re all alive and trying to stay active, so I would consider everyone a different kind of athlete.
Melanie: What are some of the most common injuries that you see? Explain a little bit about the prevalence of sports injuries, and what do you see every day?
Dr. Locke: Well, I would start with the knee. We get a lot of knee injuries, and a lot of these are meniscus injuries. They are the shock-absorber injuries. There are two menisci, the medial and lateral meniscus, in each knee. Over time, they can kind of wear out kind of like your brake pads in your car. You could get a little tear in the meniscus with any kind of injury, but also with no injury, just with time. I would say that’s very common in knees. And then with shoulders, we see a lot of rotator cuff injuries, inflammation. I tell people I used to work arthritis about 100 times a day in my office because everybody has some arthritis — a gradual wearing away. You usually get the combination of things, a meniscus tear, and a little bit of arthritis, and we can make that better with a small surgery.
Melanie: So, there are acute injuries, things that happen, and then there are common, chronic injuries, Dr. Locke. When we’re talking about some of the chronic injuries, what do you want listeners to know about some of the sports-specific —- we’re seeing youth athletes, ACL in girls; those would be acute, but we see overuse injuries, throwing injuries in baseball — so what do you want the listeners to know about some of these and what we can do to prevent them in the first place?
Dr. Locke: Yeah, I work with a lot of coaches, and my kids have played a lot of sports over the years. Football is kind of its own unique category. It’s not just a contact sports, but it’s a collision sport. We’re concerned about everything from ankle sprains to concussions. What we see in sports medicine from the youth is that people are playing the same sports basically, year-round. Whether it’s club volleyball, or soccer, or softball, or football, they’re basically doing the same activities, not just in the season. Back in the day, the best athletes in school would play football during football season, and then basketball, and then maybe baseball or track, and then take a break in the summertime not just for two weeks, but for two months. Now, my kid’s doing football in the middle of June, July, and August, and really not enough time to get a full break as far as rest for the body that’s growing, so we see a lot of overuse injuries as you can expect.
Melanie: So, what do you like people to do? What is the first line of treatment before maybe they even see a physician to assess the situation? Are you an ice man? Do you like heat, bracing, wrapping to help support those joints and injuries? What do you want them to know about some of that treatment?
Dr. Locke: Well, we use the word RICE for Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation. That’s the basic treatment that we’re taught in medical school, but also athletic trainers, and even the Boy Scouts are taught this, to Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation. If you have any kind of sprain or an injury, it helps with the inflammation, and helps with the swelling, and helps with the pain. Usually, it’s ice and not heat for any kind of acute injury. A couple of Tylenol is always a good idea for pain as well. I would say for the acute injury; we want people to take it seriously, but also how to treat themselves and know when to see a physician when it’s not getting better.
Melanie: When do you see a physician? What would you do as far as ways of diagnosing the situation, and ways that you can help them?
Dr. Locke: Yeah, I would give it a good four- to six weeks. If you twist your knee and you’re able to walk on it, and you can get by — a lot of things get better with time, right? If you sprain your knee, you can put weight on it, and you can get through the day —- it might be a little sore, but if it’s getting better, it’s no reason to rush to see a doctor. It’s different of course, if you cannot put weight on it, or if you have a lot of swelling, or if you hear a crack or a snap and you’re concerned about a fracture. I always tell people that no doctor in the world has X-ray vision, so you can get a simple X-ray at an urgent care center if you’re concerned about yourself of a family member. It never hurts to get an X-ray if you have an injury, and usually, fractures are, of course, tender. If you fall on your wrist, and it hurts, and it’s pretty tender to press on, then I think that’s pretty clear to get an X-ray on those sorts of things.
Melanie: So, now we want athletes to be able to stay in the game — golfers want to continue golfing — what else can you do, and when is surgery the discussion that you have? What questions, Dr. Locke, do you want patients to ask you before they consider surgery?
Dr. Locke: Well, backing up, I would say a lot of success in athletics becomes a habit. It’s a habit that you learn, the discipline of your coaches and your trainers, and put the hard work in, which means long hours of training for success. I think, in general, that’s athletics, but it’s also healthcare. You’ve got to be proactive. Steven Covey wrote a book on the successful habits, “The Seven Habits of Successful People,” and the first one is “Be proactive.” He also mentioned to “Begin with the end in mind,” and “Put first things, first.” Those three things, I think are not just applied to what he’s talking about, but also to healthcare — be proactive, begin with the end in mind, and put first things, first.
To me, first things first, whether you’re talking about an athlete or somebody that’s elderly and trying to stay in the golf game later in life, it begins with diet and exercise. I tell people that diet and exercise are what you start with, and it’s really the treatment for every — or part of the treatment for everything we think of in sports medicine and medicine in general.
Melanie: How can sports medicine physicians —- how can you help the community? People look to you and they look at their coaches, so how can you work with the schools, and the coaches and community centers to help awareness of sports injuries and prevention?
Dr. Locke: I think — I have a friend who says, “Your greatest ability if your availability.” Everybody likes the idea of sports medicine; it sounds kind of exotic, and you’re going to take care of professional athletes. A lot of sports medicine is just available on a rainy Friday night, watching a game, and just be available in case there’s an injury. Some of it’s some downtime and being available, whether it’s by phone or by being there in the community, on the sidelines, working closely with the coaches and trainers to take care of these athletes. Whether they’re high school or college or professional, a lot of it is just being available and answering questions for people.
Melanie: Tell us about your team at Temecula Valley Hospital.
Dr. Locke: Well, we have a great team as far as primary care to the surgeons. I would say across the board; we have people that are engaged and interested in outcomes. We all repeat the same things that we think diet and exercise are important for our patients to stay in the game. We’re all athletes trying to improve and say that if we can get our patients to think that way or begin that way. The rest of it falls into place — whether they need surgery or medication, that may be part of it as well, but if we can get our patients to get involved and engaged — basically set the alarm clock. At 5 O’clock in the morning go to the gym. There are so many resources out there in Temecula, and basically, across the country, there are so many great gyms and personal trainers. It’s not just you and your doctor. It’s a lot of teamwork with other people and being motivated to get better.
Melanie: Great information, Dr. Locke. Thank you so much for sharing your expertise with us on this sports medicine topic and preventing injuries. You’re listening to TVH Chat with Temecula Valley Hospital. For more information, please visit TemeculaValleyHospital.com. Physicians are independent practitioners who are not employees or agents of Temecula Valley Hospital. The hospital shall not be liable for actions or treatments provided by physicians. This is Melanie Cole. Thanks, so much, for listening.
Staying Active and in the Game, Sports Medicine
Melanie Cole (Host): Whether you’re a weekend warrior or professional athlete, someone who likes to golf or play tennis, or just likes to keep active, if pain begins to interfere with your daily life, it may be time to see a physician to assess your pain. My guest today, is Dr. John Locke. He’s an Orthopedic Surgeon and Chair in the Department of Surgery and a member of the medical staff at Temecula Valley Hospital.
Dr. Locke, I’d like to just start by asking you what is sports medicine? Does it help only athletes? And please explain for us a little bit about the difference between a sports medicine physician and an orthopedic surgeon.
Dr. John Locke (Guest): Yeah, I completed my orthopedic surgery training at Stanford University, and then did another one year of training at the University of California, in San Diego. From an orthopedic standpoint, sports medicine means arthroscopy, which means looking inside of the joint — usually knees or shoulders — with a small incision and a scope, and smoothing things out on the inside. From an orthopedic surgery standpoint, sports medicine surgery often means it’s a very small incision, minimally-invasive surgery.
Now, from a different standpoint, sports medicine means working with athletes, whether it’s high school athletes, college, or professional athletes, which we do as well, but at the end of the day, we are all athletes. We’re all alive and trying to stay active, so I would consider everyone a different kind of athlete.
Melanie: What are some of the most common injuries that you see? Explain a little bit about the prevalence of sports injuries, and what do you see every day?
Dr. Locke: Well, I would start with the knee. We get a lot of knee injuries, and a lot of these are meniscus injuries. They are the shock-absorber injuries. There are two menisci, the medial and lateral meniscus, in each knee. Over time, they can kind of wear out kind of like your brake pads in your car. You could get a little tear in the meniscus with any kind of injury, but also with no injury, just with time. I would say that’s very common in knees. And then with shoulders, we see a lot of rotator cuff injuries, inflammation. I tell people I used to work arthritis about 100 times a day in my office because everybody has some arthritis — a gradual wearing away. You usually get the combination of things, a meniscus tear, and a little bit of arthritis, and we can make that better with a small surgery.
Melanie: So, there are acute injuries, things that happen, and then there are common, chronic injuries, Dr. Locke. When we’re talking about some of the chronic injuries, what do you want listeners to know about some of the sports-specific —- we’re seeing youth athletes, ACL in girls; those would be acute, but we see overuse injuries, throwing injuries in baseball — so what do you want the listeners to know about some of these and what we can do to prevent them in the first place?
Dr. Locke: Yeah, I work with a lot of coaches, and my kids have played a lot of sports over the years. Football is kind of its own unique category. It’s not just a contact sports, but it’s a collision sport. We’re concerned about everything from ankle sprains to concussions. What we see in sports medicine from the youth is that people are playing the same sports basically, year-round. Whether it’s club volleyball, or soccer, or softball, or football, they’re basically doing the same activities, not just in the season. Back in the day, the best athletes in school would play football during football season, and then basketball, and then maybe baseball or track, and then take a break in the summertime not just for two weeks, but for two months. Now, my kid’s doing football in the middle of June, July, and August, and really not enough time to get a full break as far as rest for the body that’s growing, so we see a lot of overuse injuries as you can expect.
Melanie: So, what do you like people to do? What is the first line of treatment before maybe they even see a physician to assess the situation? Are you an ice man? Do you like heat, bracing, wrapping to help support those joints and injuries? What do you want them to know about some of that treatment?
Dr. Locke: Well, we use the word RICE for Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation. That’s the basic treatment that we’re taught in medical school, but also athletic trainers, and even the Boy Scouts are taught this, to Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation. If you have any kind of sprain or an injury, it helps with the inflammation, and helps with the swelling, and helps with the pain. Usually, it’s ice and not heat for any kind of acute injury. A couple of Tylenol is always a good idea for pain as well. I would say for the acute injury; we want people to take it seriously, but also how to treat themselves and know when to see a physician when it’s not getting better.
Melanie: When do you see a physician? What would you do as far as ways of diagnosing the situation, and ways that you can help them?
Dr. Locke: Yeah, I would give it a good four- to six weeks. If you twist your knee and you’re able to walk on it, and you can get by — a lot of things get better with time, right? If you sprain your knee, you can put weight on it, and you can get through the day —- it might be a little sore, but if it’s getting better, it’s no reason to rush to see a doctor. It’s different of course, if you cannot put weight on it, or if you have a lot of swelling, or if you hear a crack or a snap and you’re concerned about a fracture. I always tell people that no doctor in the world has X-ray vision, so you can get a simple X-ray at an urgent care center if you’re concerned about yourself of a family member. It never hurts to get an X-ray if you have an injury, and usually, fractures are, of course, tender. If you fall on your wrist, and it hurts, and it’s pretty tender to press on, then I think that’s pretty clear to get an X-ray on those sorts of things.
Melanie: So, now we want athletes to be able to stay in the game — golfers want to continue golfing — what else can you do, and when is surgery the discussion that you have? What questions, Dr. Locke, do you want patients to ask you before they consider surgery?
Dr. Locke: Well, backing up, I would say a lot of success in athletics becomes a habit. It’s a habit that you learn, the discipline of your coaches and your trainers, and put the hard work in, which means long hours of training for success. I think, in general, that’s athletics, but it’s also healthcare. You’ve got to be proactive. Steven Covey wrote a book on the successful habits, “The Seven Habits of Successful People,” and the first one is “Be proactive.” He also mentioned to “Begin with the end in mind,” and “Put first things, first.” Those three things, I think are not just applied to what he’s talking about, but also to healthcare — be proactive, begin with the end in mind, and put first things, first.
To me, first things first, whether you’re talking about an athlete or somebody that’s elderly and trying to stay in the golf game later in life, it begins with diet and exercise. I tell people that diet and exercise are what you start with, and it’s really the treatment for every — or part of the treatment for everything we think of in sports medicine and medicine in general.
Melanie: How can sports medicine physicians —- how can you help the community? People look to you and they look at their coaches, so how can you work with the schools, and the coaches and community centers to help awareness of sports injuries and prevention?
Dr. Locke: I think — I have a friend who says, “Your greatest ability if your availability.” Everybody likes the idea of sports medicine; it sounds kind of exotic, and you’re going to take care of professional athletes. A lot of sports medicine is just available on a rainy Friday night, watching a game, and just be available in case there’s an injury. Some of it’s some downtime and being available, whether it’s by phone or by being there in the community, on the sidelines, working closely with the coaches and trainers to take care of these athletes. Whether they’re high school or college or professional, a lot of it is just being available and answering questions for people.
Melanie: Tell us about your team at Temecula Valley Hospital.
Dr. Locke: Well, we have a great team as far as primary care to the surgeons. I would say across the board; we have people that are engaged and interested in outcomes. We all repeat the same things that we think diet and exercise are important for our patients to stay in the game. We’re all athletes trying to improve and say that if we can get our patients to think that way or begin that way. The rest of it falls into place — whether they need surgery or medication, that may be part of it as well, but if we can get our patients to get involved and engaged — basically set the alarm clock. At 5 O’clock in the morning go to the gym. There are so many resources out there in Temecula, and basically, across the country, there are so many great gyms and personal trainers. It’s not just you and your doctor. It’s a lot of teamwork with other people and being motivated to get better.
Melanie: Great information, Dr. Locke. Thank you so much for sharing your expertise with us on this sports medicine topic and preventing injuries. You’re listening to TVH Chat with Temecula Valley Hospital. For more information, please visit TemeculaValleyHospital.com. Physicians are independent practitioners who are not employees or agents of Temecula Valley Hospital. The hospital shall not be liable for actions or treatments provided by physicians. This is Melanie Cole. Thanks, so much, for listening.