Sports medicine team focuses on injury prevention

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Sports medicine team focuses on injury prevention
Sports medicine team focuses on injury prevention

As a lifelong athlete and sports medicine specialist at Crystal Run Healthcare, Dr. Justin Conway understands the importance of providing winning care for athletes at all levels.

“I like that sports medicine is people-centered. You’re talking with people, you’re forming relationships,” said Dr. Conway. “And I think my background helps me to relate with athletes and active folks.”

Dr. Conway encourages patients to be proactive about their health with regular exercise.

Dr. Conway started playing basketball mid-way through high school before furthering his athletic experience as a collegiate basketball player at Princeton University. He continued to play pick-up games while in medical school and now is an active runner and intramural soccer player in his free time.

Dr. Conway chose to focus on primary care and sports medicine to combine his interests in science and sports in his career. Dr. Conway now works with athletes at all levels in his clinic and as a team physician for Mount Saint Mary College Athletics, Hudson Valley Renegades, and Kingston Stockade. He is also a member of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team Medical Pool.

“I know what it feels like to mentally and physically push yourself when you have so much riding on the game and your future and the insecurity that follows any injury – wondering if you’re going to recover,” said Dr. Conway. “That’s why it was important to me to go into a medical field that allows me to work with athletes to help prevent injuries, not just treat them when they happen.”

At his office in the Crystal Run Healthcare Newburgh location, Dr. Conway sees more than just athletes. He also provides care for people dealing with pain and movement disorders. One piece of advice he gives to all patients, athletes or otherwise, is to be active and proactive about their health.

“Being active and staying active has so many health benefits. For many conditions, exercise is the best medicine,” said Dr. Conway. “But some patients have pain or issues that prevent them from being active, which can lead to serious injury down the road.”

Crystal Run Healthcare’s Sports Medicine team provides non-surgical interventions and preventative care.

Crystal Run Healthcare’s Sports Medicine team uses a combination of techniques and leading-edge technology to address patient injuries using non-surgical interventions and preventative care. When patients need surgical care with an orthopedist or follow-up care with other specialists, sports medicine providers collaborate with physician colleagues across Crystal Run’s multispecialty practice to provide comprehensive injury care for athletes of all ages.

Among the non-surgical interventions offered by the sports medicine specialists at Crystal Run to treat injuries, include Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP), and a newly added capability, Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing (CPET).

With PRP treatments, patients’ platelets are used to encourage a healing response to the injured area. PRP can help shorten the healing time of injuries like partial rotator cuff tears, Achilles plantar fascia injuries, and elbow injuries without needing surgery.

CPET has both medical and sports performance benefits. CPET measures the body’s response to exercise. It provides a comprehensive medical analysis for athletes ages 13 and up looking to improve their performance. CPET provides diagnostic tools to evaluate causes of cardiac or respiratory symptoms individuals may experience during exercise or daily activities. Whether CPET is used for medical or performance evaluation, patients can learn how well their body functions under physical stress and work with their doctor to develop a treatment plan tailored to their unique needs.

Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing (CPET) measures the body’s response to exercise.

“CPET is kind of like testing the capacity of your engine,” said Dr. Conway. “The information we gain from CPET testing is beneficial for our active patients and can really help us understand how their body is functioning and use that knowledge to improve their health and athletic performance.”

Despite a relatively injury-free, collegiate sports experience, Dr. Conway recently faced an injury that has benched many athletes: an ACL tear. After he was injured, Dr. Conway said there was no hesitation in choosing his colleagues at Crystal Run Healthcare to manage his recovery.

“I fully trust the skill and experience of our team at Crystal Run Healthcare, so much so that I am putting my own care in the hands of my colleague, Dr. Dan Tomlinson for my ACL injury,” said Dr. Conway. “When faced with a sports injury, you want doctors who are at the top of their game and have trained at leading academic medical centers across the country. At Crystal Run Healthcare, we have that.”

In further support of his colleagues, Dr. Conway said, “We’re invested in our communities. We all live here, our kids go to school here and at Crystal Run Healthcare, we’re proud to offer high-quality, specialized services that are close to home.”

To learn more about Dr. Conway’s story, visit www.crystalrunhealthcare.com/conway. 

At Crystal Run Healthcare, we believe the best approach to care is through a collaborative, multidisciplinary effort to support the patient and their family. Our sports medicine team understands the importance of proactive, preventative care. When treating an injury, our team will triage, order the necessary imaging and testing, and use evidence-based practices to treat a variety of conditions with non-surgical interventions. Our team recognizes that we are all athletes of life and we work with everyone to make sure that they can stay active and healthy.

Justin Conway, MD is a board-certified primary care sports medicine physician at Crystal Run Healthcare.He earned his medical degree from the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor, Mich., and completed his residency at Mount Sinai-Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City, N.Y. He completed his fellowship in Primary Care Sports Medicine at Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Hospital for Special Surgery. Dr. Conway’s clinical interests include sports-related injuries and medical issues, musculoskeletal ultrasound, concussion treatment, injury prevention, sports cardiology, and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy. He is the team physician for Mount Saint Mary College Athletics, Hudson Valley Renegades, and Kingston Stockade, as well as a member of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team Medical Pool. Dr. Conway is seeing patients at Crystal Run’s Monroe and Newburgh locations.

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