Programs & Services

Fractures in children and teens require expertise in pediatric care to heal correctly. Our team partners with the Fracture Clinic to provide specialized follow-up care and same-day, on-site casting and brace fitting. 

Whether it’s a soccer ball to the head or a hard hit on the football field, head injuries in athletes are common. Our Concussion Clinic includes experts from our Sports Medicine Program and the Barrow Neurological Institute at Phoenix Children’s. Our clinic experts are dedicated to assessing and caring for young athletes who have suffered sports-related concussions. Our sports medicine physicians are uniquely qualified in the specifics of concussion management and safely returning athletes to play after injury.

Prevention is just as important as treatment. We work with athletes to implement the latest preventive protocols, integrating research to minimize injury risk and maximize time on the field. Together, we create personalized warm-up and stretching routines to perform before practices and games and emphasize the importance of rest days and recovery. Our team also offers educational talks for athletes, parents and volunteer coaches on best practices for sports safety and injury prevention.

Your athlete will have access to X-rays, CT scans and MRIs, as well as EOS Full-Body X-Rays. EOS uses low-dose radiation to help us evaluate your athlete’s balance and posture, and analyze their bones, ligaments (connective tissue) and joints from different angles.

Many parents and caregivers have questions specific to MRI (magnetic resonance imaging). This is a test that uses a magnetic field to make detailed pictures of different structures inside your athlete’s body. An MRI is an important tool used by our team to help us diagnose injuries to bones, muscles, ligaments and cartilage, and obtain necessary information before surgeries.

In many cases, MRI tests can give us more information about structures in the body than can be seen with an X-ray. An MRI also may show problems that cannot be seen with other imaging methods.

For most of our patients, MRI scans are unnecessary and can be avoided. We can often make an accurate diagnosis using our experience, training, understanding of your athlete’s medical history and a physical examination.

Our team works closely with physical therapists and engineers at our state-of-the-art Motion Analysis Lab to better understand problems resulting from sports-related injuries. In the motion analysis lab, our athletes can participate in a sports performance assessment to help us determine if they are ready to play again or if there are issues that require additional treatment, such as sports physical therapy.

Proper hydration and nutrition have an immense impact on player performance. We regularly educate youth athletes on what they should be eating and drinking based on many factors, including their age, the sport they play, their goals and their medical conditions. We also advise on the safe use of supplements and energy enhancers.

We get it: sitting on the sidelines isn’t fun. It isn’t always easy to know when it’s safe for an athlete to return to their sport after an injury. Our team will work with your athlete, their coaches and you to develop a return-to-play plan that includes an estimate of the amount of time needed to heal and prevent re-injury. At every visit, we provide sport-specific guidance to safely progress your athlete toward full return to play.

Our Sports Physical Therapy takes place in state-of-the-art facilities throughout the Valley. Unlike other sports physical therapy services, our physical therapists have years of experience and specialized training in helping youth, teenage and college-aged athletes regain strength, flexibility, balance and stability. The work and training we do can speed up recovery from injury, improve pain and reduce risk of future re-injury. 

Sports physical therapy can also prevent the need for surgery and the long-term use of prescription medications. Our physicians work closely with our sports physical therapists to develop a personalized plan for each athlete, using treatments and techniques that prevent recurrent and new injuries.

We work with specialists in Sports Physical Therapy and our Athletic Training Program to help youth athletes develop personalized strength training and conditioning plans. Strength training and conditioning, also called resistance training, is designed to increase your muscle mass, improve your speed and flexibility, and help you respond and move more quickly. Strength training and conditioning can also help you prevent injury.