Sports Medicine with TidalHealth
SALISBURY, Md. – In this week’s edition of Health Beat, brought to you by TidalHealth, WMDT spoke with Dr. Jason Scopp and Dr. Andrew Curley, two orthopedists who both specialize in sports medicine.
Dr. Scopp, who also serves as the director of the TidalHealth Peninsula Orthopedic Institute, says he strives to bring advanced, academic-style orthopedic care throughout the Delmarva Peninsula — or in other words, he wants to restore patients’ anatomy following orthopedic accidents.
“It doesn’t have to be athletic injury, but it’s an injury that can be put back together,” Dr. Scopp said. “We’re seeing shoulder injuries, knee injuries, Achilles tendon tears. People in our office that understand that when an athlete gets injured, they need to be seen the same day or the next day.”
Dr. Scopp added that one of his favorite parts of being a sports medicine doctor is going out to a sports field when most people are going home on a Friday night.
“If there is an injury on the field, we get to actually act on it right away,” Dr. Scopp explained. “I cover the Delmarva Shorebirds, which is the Baltimore Orioles organization. We cover Salisbury University and all their athletics.”
Dr. Curley says one of the most common questions he’s asked by athletes is, “Should I see a doctor for this injury that I’m having?” Yet, the answer may differ depending on the type of injury being assessed. Injuries typically fall into two categories: acute and chronic. An acute injury is typically identified by a sudden physical trauma to the body, such as a sprained ankle, broken bone, or muscle tear, caused by a specific, single incident. A chronic injury, however, is categorized by its persistent nature and typically occurs over a period of weeks or months.
“[Chronic] injuries oftentimes can attempt to be treated, without seeing a provider with things like rest, anti-inflammatories, sometimes physical therapy,” Dr. Curley added. “The advances that we offer here are not just surgical, but also biologic augmentation.”
At the end of the day, whether you’re a high level athlete or a weekend warrior, you want to get back to the activities that you’re doing after suffering an orthopedic injury.
