What is a Sports Physical, and Why Should You Care?
Posted: Jul 26th, 2022 at 12:00AM
Playing sports is a great way to have fun, stay healthy, and get fit. However, stories of athletes sustaining injuries or collapsing during a game aren't exactly unheard of. Furthermore, some people have underlying medical issues that they're not aware of that could affect their ability to stay active. Getting a sports physical is an effective way to ensure that your body is ready for fitness.
What is a Sports Physical?
Sports physicals, also sometimes called participation physicals, are an assessment that a person undergoes to determine if they're safe to engage in more strenuous physical activity. It's an opportunity for the healthcare provider to (a) identify any pre-existing issues that could cause problems and (b) help prevent future complications.
This is why sports physicals are so important.
What Happens During a Sports Physical?
Sports physicals mainly involve two parts: looking into an athlete's medical history and conducting a physical exam.
Medical History
The medical provider will get a detailed medical history of the athlete and explore any history of disease or illness in the family. In addition, the care provider may inquire about any past injuries, surgeries, or allergies the athlete might have.
Physical Exam
During the physical examination, the doctor will typically:
- Record your height and weight, since their changes affect the joints and muscles.
- Take your blood pressure, pulse rate, and breathing rate.
- Examine your skin for any abnormalities.
- Test your vision.
- Check your heart, lungs, abdomen, ears, nose, and throat.
- Check your flexibility, strength, joints, and posture.
- Conduct a cognitive assessment.
Physical examinations are done to ensure that athletes don’t have any limitations before participating in physical activity.
When and Where You Should Go for a Sports Physical
Timing is crucial for a sports physical. Most sports physicals are done six to eight weeks before the activity starts and are valid for one year. This is so that, should the provider find any issues, there's enough time to address them. If you’re participating in a school sport, you should check your program requirements first and then book an appointment with a healthcare provider.
e7 Health offers sports physicals as part of our preventative healthcare services. This will include:
- A review of your medical and family history.
- Discussing any current medications.
- Checking your vital signs.
- Checking body systems such as heart, lungs, abdomen, joints, strength, and balance.
The Importance of Sports Physicals for Your Health
Participating in sports isn't like sitting at your desk. Fitness taxes your body in unique ways. More specifically, sports stress your body. Now, stress doesn't have to be a bad thing. In fact, a little stress is good for us! And this is how physical activity can benefit your health: by putting your body under (healthy) stress.
However, you need a stable foundation to safely engage in physical activity. And that's where physicals come in. Sports physicals help identify and treat health issues that may interfere with your athletic performance. A medical provider will offer solutions to boost your functionality and remain healthy by assessing your cardiac, neurologic, and pulmonary function.
In addition, these physicals help identify and treat existing musculoskeletal injuries. Your doctor can further recommend exercises to prevent injuries from occurring in the future.
And finally, sports physicals help detect problems that necessitate treatment, such as high blood pressure and dietary conditions.
If you prepare accordingly for physical fitness, it can offer a number of benefits:
1. Weight Management
Being overweight strains the heart and increases your risk of heart disease and stroke. Physical exercise combined with a healthy diet helps in weight management. Many sports involve high-intensity movements that burn additional calories, which can help keep off unwanted weight.
2. Lower Blood Pressure
High blood pressure is a significant risk factor for cardiovascular disease. According to studies, sports can considerably lower your blood pressure. If you play sports regularly, your heart and breathing rates are boosted. This makes your heart stronger and allows it to pump blood with less effort.
And on a related note...
3. Better Blood Circulation
Participating in physical activities improves your blood circulation. Exercise keeps your body well-oxygenated. Moreover, it allows your heart to more effortlessly increase the blood flow in your body. Improved blood circulation reduces the risk of heart attacks, helping you stay healthy and more active.
4. Stronger Bones
Sports impose stress on your bones with high-power and strength movements, increasing bone density and strengthening your bones. This is especially beneficial as we age and our bones naturally become weaker.
5. Muscle Growth
Strength training creates microtears in your muscles. When these tears heal, the tissue grows back thicker and stronger, increasing your muscle mass in the process.
6. Reduced Risk of Injury
Strength training specifically can reduce the risk of injury. Because it improves your range of motion and mobility, along with enforcing strength around significant joints in your body, it helps protect you inside and outside of the gym.
Save Money on Your Sports Physicals with e7 Health
e7 Health is a preventative health and wellness clinic. We provide sports physicals for students at a discounted price and offer other student health services.
e7 helps you save money in the following ways.
- We offer discounts to students who show proof of student status.
- We waive the office or administration fee. Other clinics charge about $25 per visit.
- e7 Health reviews student vaccination records and offers only the vaccines needed based on school records.
- Our titer prices are lower by 50% compared to other labs.
- We draw blood titers in-house for vaccines you may already have had or viruses you were exposed to as proof for your school, which can be a fraction of the cost of getting the vaccine again.
- We keep electronic medical records and input all vaccinations into state immunization records, thus having a permanent immunization record.
It's essential to your health to ensure that it's safe for you to engage in physical activity. Undergoing a sports physical before starting the athletic season or a new activity helps to identify any underlying sickness or injuries and also helps prevent issues in the future. Book an appointment with e7 Health today to get your physical done and enjoy everything that sports have to offer.
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