Sports Medicine

At Tahoe Forest Orthopedics & Sports Medicine, we are focused on a better you. Our specialty-trained sports medicine doctors and staff are dedicated to providing specialized sports medicine care to patients in Truckee, Incline Village, and the surrounding communities.

When an athlete has a sports-related injury, the doctor who treats them may be a sports medicine specialist. These medical experts provide care to high school, college, and professional athletes and teams as well as others who participate in sports for fun or exercise.

The sports-related injuries sports medicine specialists treat include everything from sprains to cruciate ligament issues, other knee injuries, overuse injuries, rotator cuff tears, concussions, and fractures. Treatments can range from nonsurgical approaches to joint replacement.

To help ensure athletes return to good health so they can participate in their sports again, sports medicine doctors often work with physical therapists. Because many sports medicine issues do not require surgery, a physical therapist can complement the treatment offered by the specialist, especially during the rehabilitation phase of patient care.

If the diagnosis confirms that surgery is the best option, a sports medicine surgeon has the experience and skills to perform a variety of surgical procedures and will develop a treatment plan based on your individual needs.

Transcript: Sports Medicine Care at Tahoe Forest Health System

Hi, my name is Dr. Kari Rezac, DO, a sports medicine physician at Tahoe Forest Health System. If you’re an athlete, whether or not you’re the weekend warrior, you’re the professional athlete, or you’re just a person who really loves to stay fit, you’re probably very well familiar with the ups and downs of sports.

Here at Tahoe Forest Sports Medicine Department, we really love to get you back in doing what you love, whether it be the acute injuries that you have that take you out right away or if it’s the chronic aches that really mess with your day to day. What we do here is simple. We want to get you back to your sport or your activity as quickly, safely, and as efficiently as possible.

Whether it be the sprain of the ankle or chronic tendinitis, we want to make sure that we’re getting you back quickly to the sport that you love and doing what you love to do. We take a comprehensive approach, and in doing so we have a lot of tools at our disposal. One of them is injections. We can either do standard or ultrasound-guided injections. In our injections we can use a variety of medications including cortisone or something newer like PRP, or platelet-rich plasma.

We can also look at you from a holistic, whole-person perspective. We can give nutrition advice, we can get you hooked up with the right referrals such as physical therapy, occupational therapy, a nutritionist or dietitian, or even a mental health coach if you need it. Here at Tahoe Forest, it’s not just about treating the injury, it’s also about preventing future injuries as well.

In doing so, when we evaluate, we value you as a whole person. We look at your biomechanics and we see if there are any deficiencies there. For instance, if you’re a runner who’s always having tendinitis of the ankle or the foot, maybe it’s your glutes. That is a common reason that people are actually having foot injuries. If we can strengthen your glutes with the idea that you’re having weakness in your glutes, and we give you that biomechanic evaluation, we give you the right referrals to our great physical therapists, and then we get you tuned up so that hopefully in the long run not only are you a better runner, but now you don’t have any of those chronic injuries anymore.

Whether you’re looking to recover from an injury or if you’re looking to just improve your sport performance, the Sports Medicine Department here at Tahoe Forest can certainly help you, meet you where you’re at, and hopefully get you there faster, better, and with fewer setbacks.

My name is Dr. Kari Rezac, a sports medicine physician here at Tahoe Forest Health System. Thank you so much for watching.

What your provider needs to know

When you have an appointment with a sports medicine specialist or surgeon, you’ll have an opportunity to describe your pain and athletic injury. Here are some issues you may be noticing that you’ll want to share with your doctor:

Joint is locking up
Limping
Moving shoulder causes pain
Numbness or tingling
Popping sound and then severe knee pain
Pain, swelling, or tenderness
Unable to bend or straighten the affected joint
Decreased range of motion
Pain that worsens when exercising or participating in a sport
Stiffness
Unable to perform at your highest level

Common sports-related issues

Your specialist may diagnose you with one of the following sports-related injuries or conditions:

Knee injury: ACL or meniscus tears and kneecap fractures are common in athletes.
Overuse injury: These injuries are common in athletes who perform the same motion over and over again, such as runners, bikers, skiers, swimmers, and team-sport athletes.
Shoulder injury: Rotator cuff injuries, labrum tears, and dislocation of the humerus are common sports-related shoulder injuries.
Fracture: A fracture is a broken bone. Oftentimes, this type of injury is treated using nonoperative care, but sometimes, surgery is required.
Sprain/strain: When a ligament is injured, it is called a sprain. When a muscle or tendon is injured, it is called a strain. With these types of injuries, it is recommended that patients rest, elevate to reduce swelling, use a brace, and participate in rehabilitation or a return-to-sports program.
Sports concussion: Concussions can occur with direct impact to the head or a whiplash-type injury. They can happen during many different types of sports and activities, but they are most common in contact sports, such as football and soccer, or high-speed sports, like skiing and biking. An athlete or active individual with a concussion should see a physician as soon as possible for medical care as well as a guided return-to-sport or return-to-learn program. Learn more about concussion management and navigation.

Once you are diagnosed, your doctor will first consider all nonsurgical treatment options, such as medication, physical therapy, injections, or a brace/splint, before recommending surgery. However, if these treatments are ineffective, they will explain why and develop a treatment plan tailored to your needs. If surgery is required, our surgeons have extensive training in the latest sports-related surgical procedures.

When you have pain, it can take a toll on your whole life. Our sports medicine specialists are not only medical experts, but they’re also knowledgeable professionals who want to do more than just treat your injury or condition; they want to help you get back to what you love.

Exceptional care begins at Tahoe Forest Orthopedics & Sports Medicine

At Tahoe Forest Orthopedics & Sports Medicine, our team of dedicated orthopedic experts is here for you. As specialty-trained and knowledgeable sports medicine doctors and surgeons, Dr. Jeffrey Dodd, Dr. Jonathan Hagen, Dr. Anna Holman, Dr. Michael Jernick, Dr. Andrew Ringnes, Dr. Kari Rezac, and Dr. Whitney Liehr are backed by the latest state-of-the-art technology and have extensive experience to bring you the very best in orthopedic care. Our sports medicine doctors have the surgical and nonsurgical expertise you need to reach your goals.