Before your child starts their sport for the season, it’s incredibly important to schedule a sports physical for them. Today, we’re sharing some of the top reasons why you should schedule a sports physical exam for your child as well as what to expect during the appointment. Dr. Nelson and his team are here to ensure your child is physically ready to meet all of the requirements involved with their sport.
Why Sports Physicals are so Important
- Sports Physicals maximize safety in your child’s participation in the sport. Dr. Nelson will go over some basic prevention tips specific to the sport and physical exercise your child will be participating in.
- Sometimes serious physical conditions such as heart defects can lie dormant until vigorous physical activity is introduced. Getting a sports physical can help diagnose something like this so that your child is safe while exercising.
- If your child has experienced recent injuries, such as a concussion, identification of this by a doctor is important so that further injury doesn’t happen from participation in sports and vigorous physical activity. Once a diagnosis has been made, Dr. Nelson can put together a treatment plan to get your child on the path to recovery quickly.
- If your child has experienced an injury in the past, older musculoskeletal injuries that haven’t healed properly increase the risk for new injuries. Proper rehabilitation can decrease this risk.
- Depending on your child’s results from their sports physical, Dr. Nelson can recommend certain physical activities and exercises to avoid, as well as sports that would be a good fit for your child.
- Dr. Nelson will clear your child for participation in their respective sports as long as your child will not be at risk.
What to Expect During Your Visit
Dr. Nelson will gather a thorough medical history to determine if your child is at higher risk for certain conditions depending on their genetics. This will give him a bigger picture of your child and family’s health history. Then he’ll gather previous injury history. This will help him know what to look for during the physical exam to see if there are any underlying musculoskeletal issues that need to be further rehabilitated. He will then look at your child’s cardiovascular activity and take their vital signs. It’s recommended that your child receives a sports physical yearly to ensure they can participate in physical exercise and sports without being at risk for injuries.
Get to Know Dr. Nelson
Dr. Nelson is a Cache Valley native who has always enjoyed sports. His love for physical activities/sports was a major influence on his decision to specialize as an orthopedic surgeon. He takes great pride in surgically repairing not only athletes but the physically progressive population and their worn-out joints. His goal is, of course, to get athletes of all ages back to their desired level, whether that is an elite athletic competition, a leisure walk or casual sport. His education included an undergraduate degree from Utah State University, medical school at the University of Utah and Orthopedic Surgery residency at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Following his residency, he completed a surgical sports medicine fellowship.
His surgical practice includes predominately surgery of the knee, shoulder, and hip from tendon and ligamentous repair and reconstruction to joint replacement surgery.
He also takes great responsibility to offer the latest in effective, cost-efficient innovation into surgical procedures. Dr. Nelson is an innovator who works as a consultant developing new surgical instruments to aid surgery. He is the owner of several patents and has licensed his personally developed surgical instruments to a major medical device company for dissemination and use for the orthopedic surgery community worldwide.
Dr. Nelson is thrilled to be working with such a wonderful community in Cache Valley and offer his services.
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