Jefferson University Hospitals

Michael Ciccotti, MD, is nationally is nationally recognized for his work in sports medicine. A graduate of College of the Holy Cross and Georgetown University Medical School, he completed Orthopedic Residency training at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. Dr. Ciccotti was awarded a fellowship in sports medicine at the prestigious Kerlan-Jobe Sports Clinic in Los Angeles, California. While there, he served as team physician assistant for all the Los Angeles professional sports teams and the University of Southern California Athletic Program. He then returned to the Rothman Institute at Jefferson where he now serves as Director of Sports Medicine and Specialist in Knee, Shoulder and Elbow Reconstruction. He is currently the Head Team Physician and Medical Director for the Philadelphia Phillies and St. Joseph’s University. Dr. Ciccotti has published numerous papers on the treatment of sports injuries, authored in leading texts on the knee, shoulder and elbow, and lectured extensively both nationally and internationally on the full spectrum of sports medicine. Here, he answers a patient’s question about sports injuries among “weekend warriors.

Question: Most of my friends are Type A personalities, working crazy hours all week and then playing tennis for hours on the weekends. But nearly all of them have had some kind of sports injury. What can I do to avoid the same fate?

Answer: You’re smart to be concerned. Sure, exercise is healthy, but with an erratic exercise program, you are setting yourself up for a sports injury. Poor training practice is in fact, one of the causes of chronic sports injuries. Chronic injuries happen after playing a sport or exercising for a long time, and can be the result of inadequate warm up or improper gear. About 95 percent of sports injuries are due to minor trauma involving soft-tissue injuries – injuries that affect the muscles, ligaments and/or tendons, including contusions (bruises), sprains or strains. Acute sports injuries, on the other hand, occur suddenly, usually from an accident or a fall. Knees, shoulders and elbows are the most commonly injured areas that require sports medicine intervention.

There are several things you can do to minimize the possibility of a chronic sports injury. As the sport season approaches, begin to exercise the muscles you'll be using. But don’t overdo it. The body needs a rest period following exercise to recover. So, athletes should undergo preseason conditioning only two or three days a week. Choose your equipment wisely and use a qualified person to help you get the proper grip on that tennis racquet, for instance. Respect the elements. For instance, very hot, humid weather is not ideal for three hours of aggressive tennis. And if you're an older adult, consider any medical problems that might put you at risk.

Above all, stop exercising if you get hurt. Continuing to play or exercise can cause more harm. Treat your injury with RICE – rest, ice, compression and elevation – until you get to the doctor. There are many new ways to treat sports injuries – most can be treated non-surgically. For surgical treatment, arthroscopy, much less invasive than open surgery, is common.