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TYLER, Texas (KETK) — Dr. Justin Bartley is a board-certified, fellowship-trained Orthopedic Surgeon with Azalea Orthopedics specializing in shoulder, hip and knee injuries as well as Sports Medicine. Bartley joined East Texas Live to tell the community about Sports Medicine and the most common types of sports injuries.

“Sports Medicine is a subspecialty of orthopedic surgery. It’s focused on the treatment of musculoskeletal conditions that have resulted from an active lifestyle or participation in athletics,” said Bartley

The most common sports injuries that Bartley said he sees are shoulder, elbow, hip, and knee injuries. He mainly sees rotator cuff tears in the shoulder, as well as labral tears in younger patients. In regards to the hip, Bartley sees a lot of hip impingement, which is abnormal contact between the ball and socket of the hip. With the knee, he sees a lot of meniscus tears and ACL tears.

To prevent these injuries, Bartley recommends cross training for athletes which gives them variety in their work out schedules. There are many “over use” injuries because it is so common for athletes to specialize in one sport. Bartley says that it is imperative for these athletes to try and practice their athleticism in a variety of ways and to give themselves ample opportunity to rest and recover.