TODAY discusses ways to prevent and treat injuries featuring on-air guidance from Jordan D. Metzl, MD, sports medicine physician at HSS.

Dr. Metzl explained, “This is the busiest time of year in sports medicine for injuries, because people are back to school, they’ve been in camp, and people are ramping up to do events. We see lots of injuries this time of year, but the good news is many of them are preventable.”

He continued, “When we think about prevention it is important to find gear that fits properly, such as the right football helmet or running shoes. That makes a big difference.”

“Additionally, building up muscles - making strong muscles prevents loading on your joints, so if you are a walker or runner or whatever sport.”

Dr. Metzl advised avoiding the rule of too’s – too much, too fast. He added, “I tell my patients if pain is changing the way you are moving then, you need to get it checked out.”

“We see all kinds of injuries in sports medicine and our job is to figure out what the injury is. Things like muscle injuries (like a quad strain), or sprained ligament (like a sprained ankle), or repetitive use injuries like shin splints," he said. “The first thing is recognizing severity, and following that you want to get some ice and compression. Ice is nature’s anti-inflammatory.”

He noted that younger kids can have different injury profiles so it’s important to get checked out.

He added, “The key thing here is making sure you talk to your doctor or physical therapist before rushing back into activity too quickly. We have a protocol for how we ease people back into activity and practice good body listening. Many injuries are preventable with body listening.”

Watch the full segment at Today.com. The segment also aired during the 9am news hour on August 15.