Long Island Spine Rehabilitation Medicine
Long Island Spine Rehabilitation Medicine, known throughout the Island and the greater New York metropolitan area for its excellent work in treating musculoskeletal injuries, has made the wise choice of locating its Sports Injury Center in East Meadow. East Meadow is a hub of sports activities. In addition to housing Nassau Coliseum, a venue for the Islanders NHL team for decades, East Meadow is home to Eisenhower Park, a large and luscious gathering place for recreational sports.
Like the other suburban communities that surround it (Westbury, Uniondale, Levittown, North Merrick), East Meadow has its share of student and adult athletes, and a general population eager to stay healthy by exercising regularly. While all of this physical activity is a boon, it inevitably leads to a wide range of sports injuries. Fortunately, our Sports Injury Center in East Meadow successfully treats the patients who visit us seeking pain relief and restored mobility. Our goal is to get them, and you, back to an active, enjoyable lifestyle. We are conveniently located from multiple highways and offer complimentary valet parking at this location.
What Sets Our East Meadow Spine Center Apart
Our Spine and Sports Injury Center is unique in several ways. For one thing, our team is led by highly skilled physiatrists. Physiatrists are medical doctors who specialize in pain management and rehabilitation, so our focus is on alleviating pain and assisting in the restoration of function. In most cases, we view surgery as a last resort and concentrate on noninvasive, conservative methods of treatment.
Another characteristic that sets our East Meadow spine center apart is that we approach our patients holistically, as complex human beings, not just body parts. This means we take all aspects of your life into consideration when evaluating your case — your occupation, your interests and hobbies, your underlying medical and psychological issues, as well as your exercise regimen and sports activities.
Finally, all of the members of our staff are, by both nature and training, empathic. We are fully aware of how much pain can interfere with your job, your daily routine, your relationships, and your emotional state. We, therefore, take your pain seriously and treat you with the compassion you deserve.
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Types of Sports Injuries We Treat at L.I. Spine’s East Meadow Spine and Sports Injury Center
Often, pain is categorized as acute or chronic. Acute sports injuries occur as the result of a forceful, direct hit or a sudden motion that applies excessive pressure to a joint, tendon, bone or ligament. Chronic injuries, on the other hand, typically result from repetitive stress or overuse. Though the former involves instant pain, and the latter causes pain that may increase gradually over a period of time, each may also limit mobility. While both types of sports injuries may resolve on their own with home remedies known as RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation), many will require professional care.
Although some injuries are commonly associated with particular sports, such as “tennis elbow” or “runner’s knee,” you may suffer almost any sports injury during most types of exercise or activity. As a matter of fact, sedentary people often suffer so-called sports injuries at work, while doing household chores, or as a result of an accident. Here are some of the injuries we treat at
our spine clinic in East Meadow, listed in terms of the joints they affect:
Knee Injuries
The knee is a complex joint, but our talented physiatrists and physical therapists are capable of reducing pain and increasing movement and flexibility following knee injuries. Common sports injuries that affect the knee, and are often sustained by those who play football, soccer, basketball, baseball or jog are:
- Runner’s knee (patellofemoral syndrome)
- Meniscus tears
- Tears or sprains of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL)
Hip Injuries
Many people who actively engage in sports that exercise the lower body — such as bicycling, running, swimming, dancing, baseball, gymnastics, football, basketball, tennis, and golf — suffer hip injuries, including:
- Hip bursitis
- Hamstring injuries
- Sacroiliac (SI) injuries
Shoulder Injuries
Shoulder Injuries are frequently suffered by those who overuse their upper arms while swimming or playing tennis, baseball or football. Common shoulder injuries are:
- Rotator cuff injuries
- Shoulder impingement
- Shoulder dislocation
- Tendonitis
Elbow Injuries (epicondylitis)
Elbow Injuries are common in those who play racket sports, such as tennis and badminton, as well as in golfers, baseball players and those who participate in archery, martial arts, rowing, and rock climbing. The only difference between tennis elbow and golfer’s elbow is that the former affects the outside of the elbow and the latter affects the inside.
Hand/Wrist Injuries
Though frequently associated with driving and with certain occupations and household chores, hand/wrist injuries can also be caused by sports activities that involve overextension of the arm, twisting, pitching or clenching, such as racket sports, basketball, volleyball, cycling and gymnastics. Hand/wrist injuries include:
- Carpal tunnel syndrome
- De Quervain’sTendinitis
Back Pain
Back Painis one of the most common reasons people are absent from work and is often chronic, even recurring after surgery. Many patients suffer back pain due to congenital weaknesses or malformations, or as a result of aging, but back problems are also often due to sports injuries. Back injuries can be incurred while playing golf, baseball, basketball, or football, and almost any other sport. Back injuries we treat at our East Meadow spine clinic include:
- Cervical (neck) injuries
- Herniated or ruptured discs
- Lumbar (lower back) strains and sprains
- Sciatica
- Osteoarthritis (which can occur prematurely after a sports injury)
- Scoliosis
- Vertebral fractures
Diagnosis at Our Rehabilitation Center in East Meadow
Our physiatrists use both their extensive training and well-practiced skills to determine the cause of your pain by:
- Taking a complete medical history
- Performing a thorough physical examination
- Administering imaging tests like ultrasound or MRI, CT, or bone scans
- Injecting painkillers under ultrasound guidance to pinpoint the affected nerve
- Performing nerve conduction studies and electromyography (EMG)
Once we determine the precise location of your injury, we will tailor a treatment program to strengthen the affected muscles and deaden the affected nerve. We will work hard (and so will you!) to improve both your stability and range of motion while diminishing or eliminating your pain. If we find that your sports injury requires surgical intervention, we will refer you to a well-respected surgical specialist.
At East Meadow Spine Center, Our Treatments are Noninvasive and Effective
When you come to our East Meadow Sports Injury Center, we will administer treatments with a track record of relieving pain and restoring function. These include:
- Spinal epidural injections of corticosteroids and analgesics, guided by fluoroscopic guidance in an in office state of the art procedure suite
- Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy to accelerate the healing process
- Acupuncture to provide pain relief and stimulate blood flow to promote heal
- PEMF (Pulsed Electromagnetic Field) technology that uses sound waves to stimulate healing
Contact Long Island Spine’s East Meadow Spine and Sports Center Today
Tolerating sports injury pain not only interferes with your quality of life, it greatly increases your risk that the physical damage will worsen. Make an appointment with Long Island Spine’s East Meadow Sports Center so you can get back to the court, the course, the mat or the track and return to the active life you love.