sports medicine, a branch of medicine that specializes in the prevention and treatment of injuries resulting from training for and participation in athletic events. More than 1 million people are treated for sports injuries each year in the United States. Most sports injuries involve muscle sprains, strains, and tears, which frequently result from inadequate preliminary “warm-up” exercises. Among the most common sports injuries are shin splints, runner’s knee, pulled hamstring muscles, Achilles tendonitis, ankle sprain, arch sprain, charley horse, tennis elbow, baseball finger, dislocations, muscle cramps, bursitis, myofascitis, costochondritis, hernia, and “Little League elbow.”
