Thousands in the stands and millions more in front of televisions watch the physician practicing sports medicine in a most public way and are reminded that sports participation is a risky business. Such public treatment, however, reflects only one side of sports medicine. Perhaps the heart of our practice is attempts to prevent injuries in the first place. Prevention measures, especially for young athletes, are the most effective methods of injury reduction because they preclude injury or reduce its severity. Intervention Strategies Primary prevention may not involve the drama of on-field treatment, but it is proactive and requires a keen eye for spotting risks and a persistent search for ways to minimize them so athletes can continue to play and compete.
Primary prevention involves a continuum of strategies, from passive to active.
Passive strategies do not require participant cooperation and are therefore the most reliable measures for preventing injury. Active primary prevention requires an athlete to cooperate or make behavior changes, and, consequently, it is not as reliable as passive interventions. Examples include educational efforts and safety advisories, such as recommendations that athletes drink more fluids during activity to maintain hydration, slow their race pace in hot conditions to prevent heat stress, or use individual water cups to prevent the spread of disease. Between these extremes are a number of strategies that blend the passive and active approaches and require degrees of athlete cooperation. The rules of the game are the fundamental primary strategy for preventing injury.