SPORTS MEDICINE: WHAT IT STUDIES, HISTORY, APPLICATIONS, METHODOLOGY - MEDICINE - 2025

The medicine of the sport is a specialized branch of medical science that has its primary focus on the effects of physical activity and sport on the health of people. It also deals with aspects related to the prevention and treatment of sports injuries and pathologies.

Sports medicine is applied in various fields, such as Olympic training, elite athletes, public health policy development, and patient rehabilitation. Broadly speaking, sports medicine is divided into three categories of study: basic, clinical and science applied to sports.

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Basic sports medicine deals with aspects such as the biomechanics, physiology and anatomy of sports. Clinical sports medicine deals with the prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of injuries. Medicine and science applied to sports focus on aspects such as psychology or nutrition.

Sports medicine is often considered a multidisciplinary science within general medicine. This is because it is in charge of reviewing both the medical and technical aspects, as well as the psychological and pedagogical aspects of the patient.

One of its main objectives is to study the patient's capacity for effort and based on this, to develop forms of physical conditioning that help him to improve himself. This happens both in patients who are active, sedentary or who need to rehabilitate from discomfort and injuries.

Brief history of sports medicine

Claudius Galenus, by Unknown -, Public Domain, (https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3999938).

Physical activity, sport, are natural behaviors attributable to the very nature of humans. Therefore, its existence goes back to the very origin of our species. However, there is clear evidence of the use of sport for "curative" purposes.

Over the years, both the activities and the way of understanding sports and medicine have changed radically.

Old age

The first records of physical activity for medical purposes, dates back to 2500 BC. As is known, the Taoists (Chinese monks) were the first to establish a sports discipline that served to "purify the soul."

Arthava-Veda, a guide found in India, also detailed a series of joint mobility routines for therapeutic purposes. The compendium is believed to have been created in 800 BC. C.

However, the formal idea that sport and health were associated and that their regular practice led to optimal physical condition, arises in Ancient Greece. The philosopher Heródicus, was in charge of teaching about sport and years later he began his studies in medicine.

According to him, there was a direct relationship between sport, nutrition and health. He was in fact the first scientist to recommend physical exercise and strict diets, during the 5th century BC. During his years of work he taught at the Cos School of Medicine, where Hippocrates, who is believed to have been his pupil, was trained.

But without a doubt it is Claudius Galenus (131-201 BC), who is considered until today as the father of sports medicine. His views were cutting edge and he was the first to consider the opinion of the clinician in monitoring physical activity. He also recommended ball games and advocated physical massage to avoid injuries.

While sport was an almost sacred practice for the Greeks, the Etruscans understood physical activity as a spectacle. This idea would be taken to the extreme during Ancient Rome in the well-known "Roman circuses", where fights between gladiators would frequently lead to the death of one of them.

Middle Ages

The first large urban concentrations in proto-cities during the Middle Ages, facilitated the emergence of team sports. Large groups of people gathered in squares to practice different sports similar to today's soccer and hockey.

For their part, the nobles spent their free time practicing cavalry, war games and fighting. Its access to green spaces in the palaces, favored the appearance of games that would be early versions of the fronton and tennis.

The ideas of Galenus marked centuries of history. It was only in the Renaissance when other innovative ideas emerged, in this case during the 1500s at the hands of Hieronymous Mercurialis. In his work Libri de arte gymnastica, he manages to structure exercise as a form of treatment and insists that healthy people should also practice sports (contrary to the ideas of the time).

Twentieth century

Despite the passage of time and many advances, sports medicine began to be considered as an entity in itself only in the 20th century. During the 1928 Olympic Games, the first international sports medicine congress was organized.

At that time it is when the function of this branch of medicine in sporting events begins to be seriously considered, prevention, treatment and rehabilitation protocols are established.

Finally and closer to our time, sports medicine is recognized as a sub-branch of medical sciences, in 1989.

Sports medicine applications

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Thanks to many years of studies, analysis and empirical evidence, sports medicine has managed, among others, to establish that physical activity practiced without control or supervision can become harmful to the body.

This is why within the main objectives of this discipline, we can detail:

Sports assistance

Either within professional or amateur competitions, regardless of the age and gender of those who participate. The physical or sports manifestations of the attendees must be supervised by an athlete.

Disease prevention

Avoid the development of pathologies associated with physical activity, whether in professional, amateur, official or training practices.

Rehabilitation

The most common aspect of sports medicine, hands down. It refers to the healing of injuries and the reversal of physical pathologies associated with the mobility of the skeletal-muscular system.

Advice

It focuses on the development and preparation of training routines and work teams, making sure that the activities are appropriate for each person according to the work objective.

Evaluation

Prior to starting any training (usually in the professional field), the sports doctor is in charge of observing and requesting studies that allow a complete idea of ​​the athlete's physical state.

Methodology

Spirometry, by Jmarchn - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, (https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26590234).

According to the type of problem, patient or branch of application of sports medicine, there are different methods of work and study. However, in general terms, there are common protocols that cover the entirety of this discipline.

One of the most important aspects is that of prevention. Functional evaluations are nothing more than studies requested by the professional, in order to have a full knowledge of the functional capacity of your patient.

These studies are known as physical-sports evaluation plans and include aspects such as:

Complete medical history analysis: it is used to understand the patient's / athlete's history, what problems they went through in the past, what are the work areas or problem movements.

Laboratory tests: stool, urine and / or blood analyzes are used to know the state of health and whether or not there are biochemical alterations in the patient.

Radiological studies: X-ray examinations (radiographs) are a tool to know if there are previous or potential injuries or bone damage.

Anthropometric analysis: it focuses on the athlete's own physical aspects such as composition (weight and height), body fat index, lean mass, bone weight, among other parameters.

Electrocardiographic studies: this is a series of analyzes focused on corroborating the behavior of the heart.

Ergometry: complementary to the stress test, it is used to know the performance capacity, that is, the oxygen consumption during physical activity.

Stress test: the study is performed while the athlete / patient is engaged in physical activity, often on treadmills or stationary bicycles, while being monitored by equipment supervised by a professional. Here both aerobic and anaerobic capacity are evaluated.

Spirometry: focuses on evaluating the athlete's respiratory-pulmonary capacity. The test focuses on knowing both the individual's air capacity and its expulsion speed, among other parameters.

Biomechanical evaluation: starting from the laws of physics, this test is used to know the mobility of the individual. This helps to check the degree of execution of certain movements, their natural sports behavior and gestures.

Reaction times: also known as “response time”, it is a physical test that is responsible for analyzing the relationship between the stimulus and the athlete's response.

Mobility: it is responsible for measuring the ability of the muscles to extend and regain their original state of rest. The flexibility of the individual plays a fundamental role and is also a parameter to take into account.

Once the results of the battery of studies have been obtained, the health professional will be in charge of preparing what is known as a "comprehensive diagnosis". This will be used to create a correct exercise, training or rehabilitation routine as necessary.

Comprehensive diagnoses are of vital importance for the creation of any training plan, as they help prevent future injuries, correct sports gestures and contribute to the general improvement of the patient's physical conditions.

References

1. Galenus Magazine. (sf). Sports Medicine in history.
2. Macauley, D. (2003). Textbook of Sports Medicine: Basic Science and Clinical Aspects of Sports Injury and Physical Activity.
3. Domínguez Rodríguez, G., & Pérez Cazales, L. (2001). Role of sports medicine in general medicine.
4. Tlatoa Ramírez, HM, Ocaña Servín, HL, Márquez López, ML, & Aguilar Becerril, JA (2014). History of medicine and sports: physical activity, a healthy lifestyle that was lost in the history of mankind.
5. Albors Baga, J., & Gastaldi Orquín, E. (2013). Past, present and future of sports medicine.