Thursday, April 30, 2020

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Dr. Brett Owens appeared on "Smart Health" on GoLocal LIVE.

These are unprecedented times and you know sports certainly has taken a back burner at every level of course, the professional athletes get the most attention but college sports has been a huge hit, said Owens.

For injured athletes, it does make things a little bit easier in my office. When Im working with athletes that are recovering from knee or should surgery, theres very much always that sense of fear of missing out and thats not there, said Owens. But theres certainly a lot of missing out to go around. Athletes want to be able to be back in full performance and I think potentially using this time to really refocus their rehab efforts is helpful, but for all athletes, its extremely frustrating.

University Orthopedics' Owens is the Team Physician at Brown as well as for the Providence Bruins.

Preparing to Come Back

In general, conditioning can be challenging right now. I think redoubling your efforts, focusing on the things you can control you cant control COVID and all the impacts on society but you can control your own condition, whether thats aerobic conditioning running, biking, said Owens, of his advice to athletes.

Some people are getting really inventive, folks that dont have weights available to them are working out with milk jugs of water, sand etc. and focusing on core [strength], said Owens. In addition, you mentioned diet and maintaining body weight. Some people have unfortunately been more sedentary than they usually would be. Youre going to come back at potentially a higher body weight and that impacts not just athletes but us middle-aged folks trying to stay in shape.

Surgeries in Focus

Patients and their safety is our number one priority, so we work and communicate directly with the Department of Health and theyve strongly encouraged us to continue to take care of our patients, said Owens. Weve transitioned to telehealth for many but weve also continued to do semi-urgent surgeries for people that otherwise would have to be at the hospital.

Owens is a Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at Brown and Chief of Sports Medicine at Miriam Hospital. He is a board-certified orthopaedic sports medicine surgeon whose clinical practice focuses on complex knee, shoulder, and cartilage injuries.

About Alpert Medical School -- and Smart Health

Since granting its first Doctor of Medicine degrees in 1975, the Warren Alpert Medical School has become a national leader in medical education and biomedical research.

By attracting first-class physicians and researchers to Rhode Island over the past four decades, the Medical School and its seven affiliated teaching hospitals have radically improved the state's health care environment, from health care policy to patient care.

"Smart Health" is a sponsored content segment on GoLocalProv.com featuring experts from The Warren Alpert Medical School on GoLocal LIVE.

Excerpt from:
Focus on What You Can Control: Brown Alpert Med School Orthopaedic Surgeon's Advice to Athletes - GoLocalProv