Sports
Sports Injuries
A sports injury is not a different kind of injury, but it comes with a different question. Healing is only part of it. You want to know when you can play again, and whether it will hold when you do. Getting that right takes longer than the healing itself.
By appointment only, at Kharar (Mohali) or Solan. Your confirmation says which.
The injuries seen most often
- ACL tears. Planting and turning, or landing awkwardly. Often a pop, swelling within hours, and later a knee that gives way on pivoting. Common in football and cricket.
- Meniscus tears. Twisting on a loaded knee. Joint line pain, catching, sometimes locking.
- Ankle sprains. The most common sports injury of all, and the most commonly undertreated. A sprain that is not rehabilitated properly is the main reason ankles keep giving way.
- Shoulder dislocation and instability. Contact sport, or a fall on an outstretched arm. Age at the first dislocation strongly predicts whether it happens again.
- Hamstring and muscle tears. Sprinting injuries, where the return-to-play decision matters more than the initial treatment.
- Overuse injuries. Tendon problems from training load going up faster than the tissue can adapt. Common in runners and throwers, and the fix is usually in the training plan. In a throwing shoulder, though, weakness more than pain points at the rotator cuff.
When it needs seeing sooner
- You cannot bear weight at all, or the limb looks deformed. Treat it as a fracture until proven otherwise.
- A joint is dislocated.
- The joint swelled within an hour of the injury. Swelling that fast suggests bleeding inside it.
- Numbness, pins and needles, or a limb that looks pale or feels cold.
- Any head injury with confusion, vomiting or loss of consciousness. This takes priority over anything orthopaedic.
Otherwise, spend the first forty-eight hours protecting it, resting it within reason, icing it and keeping it raised. Then get it assessed. Do not just wait to see whether it settles on its own.
Getting the timing right
Two mistakes account for most poor outcomes, and they pull in opposite directions.
The first is operating too early. A hot, swollen, stiff knee operated on straight after an ACL tear has a much higher rate of stiffness afterwards. It surprises people who expect urgency, but a few weeks of physiotherapy first, to settle the swelling and restore movement, usually gives a better final result.
The second is going back to sport too early. Feeling fine and being healed are not the same thing. A graft goes through a weak phase at about the time the knee starts to feel normal. The decision to return is made by testing strength and control against the other leg, not by the calendar.
What treatment usually looks like
Most sports injuries do not need surgery. Those that do usually need rehabilitation more than they need the operation.
- A staged rehabilitation programme: settle it, restore movement, rebuild strength, then sport-specific work
- Bracing or taping for a defined period where a joint needs protecting
- Load management, which for overuse injuries is usually the entire treatment
- Surgery for structural damage that will not heal on its own, most often a torn ACL in someone who needs to pivot, a repairable meniscus tear, or a shoulder that keeps coming out
- Objective testing before you are cleared to return, instead of a date agreed in advance
Common questions
How soon can I play again after an ACL reconstruction?
Usually nine to twelve months for a pivoting sport. What clears you is finishing the rehabilitation, whatever the date. Going back at six months because the knee feels fine is the most common reason grafts tear again.
Can a torn ACL heal without surgery?
The ligament itself does not reattach. Some people manage well without it on a structured strengthening programme, particularly if what they do is straight-line movement with no pivoting. Whether that suits you depends on your sport, your work and how often the knee gives way.
My ankle keeps giving way. Is that normal after a sprain?
It is common, but it is not something to accept. Repeated giving way usually means the balance and strength work after the original sprain was never finished, and it responds well to a proper programme. Left alone, it damages the joint surface over time.
Should I train through pain?
Mild discomfort that settles quickly and does not get worse from day to day is usually fine. Pain that builds through a session, is worse the next morning, or changes how you move is a signal to stop and get it looked at.
Related procedures
Where an operation does turn out to be the right answer, these are the ones this problem most often leads to.
Not sure what is causing it?
Finding out is what a consultation is for. Bring any imaging you already have, and any plan you have been given elsewhere. He sees patients by appointment only, in Kharar, Mohali, and on set days each month in Solan.