A mild traumatic brain injury which occurs after sustaining an injury to the head through impact. It may or may not be accompanied by a loss of consciousness.
Sports and exercise medicine
Our sports and exercise medicine consultants or musculoskeletal experts treat everyone from high performance athletes to people with an injury, from recreational sport or exercise activity.
Your guide to sports and exercise medicine conditions and treatment
Whether you’re looking to achieve your personal training goals, optimise your performance, prevent injuries, or recover from one that’s frustratingly slow to heal, we have the specialists to support you. At our state-of-the-art units in London and Cheshire, we offer pioneering treatment based on the latest research in the field of sports medicine.
In partnership with leading organisations including the British Olympic Association, we’ve developed an industry-leading specialist sports medicine centre, giving our patients access to a standard of care previously only available to elite athletes.
Meet our sports and exercise medicine experts
Working closely with our world-leading orthopaedic experts, including specialist orthopaedic surgeons, musculoskeletal rheumatologists and radiologists, our sports and exercise medicine consultants are dedicated to helping everyone from arthritis sufferers to high-performance athletes. As well as treating a wide range of injuries and conditions, we offer a truly holistic approach to care, with sports nutritionists, podiatrists, and physiotherapists. Whether you've picked up a running injury and you want to accelerate recovery or you want to reach peak performance, you’ll receive the very best treatment with us.
Common sports or exercise injuries and conditions
Concussion
Sprains
A common consequence of playing sport or overexertion during training. This type of soft-tissue injury can result in pain, swelling and tightness.
Fracture
A fractured or broken bone is normally the result of a high force impact, or another bone weakening condition, such as osteoporosis or bone cancer.
Common sports or exercise treatments
Sports nutrition
Particularly useful for patients with diabetes, weight-related health complaints or heart conditions, this is a detailed guide to improving your lifestyle to boost performance or simply get the best from your day-to-day life.
Shockwave therapy
This treatment is to irritate the tissue in the pain area and used to stimulate tissue in order to promote healing It can be particularly helpful for treating foot and ankle symptoms such as heel pain and plantar fasciitis.
Injection therapies
Steroid injections can help many patients by reducing pain and inflammation in the affected tissue, while PRP (platelet rich plasma) injections use the patient’s own blood cells to promote healing.
Need to know
Our physiotherapists treat a wide range of conditions across many specialist areas - from sports injuries and back pain, to rehab after breast cancer surgery and serious accidents.As an outpatient you will have an assessment by the physio, so they can determine a programme of exercises. You'll often...
Joint pain is usually caused by inflammation or conditions such as bursitis. Steroid injections help reduce inflammation to reduce pain in that area. It is most common to inject the steroid into your joints, such as ankles, elbows, hips, knees, shoulders, spine or wrists. Sometimes, even the small joints...
Hydrotherapy is the application of physiotherapy techniques in water and can be a useful adjunct to rehabilitation. Water-based exercise can be beneficial if you're recovering from a sports injury, orthopaedic surgery or trauma. Prior to treatment, you'll have a comprehensive assessment to establish...
A healthy diet greatly enhances your day-to-day life. This is particularly true for patients with conditions such as diabetes, heart problems and obesity. Our sport and exercise medicine consultants can discuss your diet with you, and provide a detailed assessment of ways in which you may improve your...
Following a sport or exercise-related injury, a course of sports physiotherapy can help you rebuild strength, regain flexibility and improve your range of movement. Physio can also help to prevent similar injuries in the future and can be used as a way of improving performance. You don't need to be a...
Musculoskeletal physiotherapy is a specialised area treating injuries and conditions affecting the muscles, joints, soft tissue and bones such as the back, neck, shoulders and knees. Physiotherapy is key to helping you get back to leading an active and healthy life following an injury, illness or...
Consultant advice
Some of our leading sports and exercise medicine consultants take a look at some key aspects of preventing sports injuries and managing your health if you have sustained an injury.
How hamstring reinjury is holding back recovery
Despite the increase in therapy and awareness of hamstring injuries (HSIs), injury rates have not declined in the last two decades. HSIs are the most common athletic injury in highly active sports and is associated with the greatest burden and time loss for patients with muscle injuries.
Running injured: when giving up is not an option
Runners talk about the meditative quality of putting one foot in front of the other, and the calming effect of getting some space from work and family. Two years after lockdown ended, it seems the enthusiasm hasn’t abated.
Don’t climb to get fit – get fit to climb
With the surge in popularity of indoor climbing walls over the past five years, more people are climbing than ever before. This endorphin-inducing, full body exercise has scaled the charts to become one of the UK’s fastest-growing sports with more than one million participants.
Paying for your own treatment
We see patients who are self-funding their treatment as well as those with medical insurance policies. We work with all the major private insurers, for example Bupa, AXA and many more. If you’re paying for your own treatment and are considering sports and exercise medicine, we offer a guide to the payment options available.
Booking your appointment
To book your HCA UK appointment for with one of our sports and exercise medicine experts, you can call or book online using our consultant finder. Remember to have your referral letter to hand. If you have private medical insurance, you’ll also need your membership number and authorisation code. We’ll confirm your appointment for you on the phone or online. If you have any special requests, we will get back to you either by phone or email within 24 hours.