The University of Toronto has one of the top sports medicine clinics in the city: the David L. MacIntosh Sports Medicine Clinic. The clinic treats over 150 patients a day and has been in business for over 60 years.
Over the time that the clinic has been open, sports medicine technology has greatly advanced. Machines allow doctors to diagnose injuries more precisely in order to create better treatment plans.
In the past, invasive surgical methods were used to treat even minor injuries, but because of new technology, this is now often unnecessary. The MacIntosh Sports Medicine Clinic is equipped with a variety of different machinery used to treat patients. A very useful piece of equipment that we would traditionally not relate to sports medicine is the ultrasound machine.
An ultrasound machine uses high frequency sound waves to create images of inside the body. A probe emits the waves that hit boundaries within the body, between soft tissue and fluid or bone, which cause the waves to bounce back.
The probe then picks up the reflected wave signals and uses a distance calculation to display different intensities projected onto a screen, therefore forming images of the soft tissue.
Ultrasound therapy can be used to reduce healing time for certain soft tissue injuries by attracting more cells to the site and therefore increasing blood flow, speeding up recovery time.
Ultrasound is also proven to stimulate the creation of collagen, which is the main component of tendons and ligaments and can further assist in healing any sprains or strains.
Another healing method is the Stim machine, used for EMS (electronic muscle stimulation), which can help strengthen weakened muscles in a process called re-education.
Natural muscle contraction in the body has to do with electrical signals sent from the brain to various body parts. In this process, conductive pads are placed over muscles that need to be re-educated, and a low-level electric current is sent through the pads and contracts the muscles.
This technology works to re-educate muscles that have been damaged and have not been used for a long period of time.
In addition to other basic exercises, EMS can build tone and help re-introduce the cognitive link between the brain and movement.
For a variety of different pains and ailments, laser therapy is used, which is a treatment option at the MacIntosh Clinic. Laser therapy uses photon (light) energy to penetrate the skin and interact with biomolecules that can help heal the body and restore natural function.
This type of treatment has a wide variety of uses, from sprains and strains to fractures and joint dysfunction.
Like ultrasound, this can stimulate the growth of new cells, decrease inflammation, and increase nerve function.
Treatments can range between 15 minutes for open wounds, minor sprains, strains, burns, or scars, to an hour for bone issues or multiple injuries.
Sports doctors and therapists have been able to evolve from using surgeries and holistic remedies to using highly effective technology to make sure that our athletes can recover from any sports-related injuries.
