ISIC showcases its global sports medicine facilities

Indian Spinal Injury Centre is aiming higher than Everest

New Delhi, April 3:  Indian Spinal Injury Center is already a numero uno in sports medicine in Asia. But it is aiming higher still.

As if the centre is continuing the mountain climbing of its indefatigable founder Major HPS Ahluwalia who is confined to a wheel chair due to a bullet injury in 1965 during Indo- Pakistan war. Major Ahluwalia was also one of the three who first scaled Mount Everest.

Keeping up with the title of its founder’s autobiography ‘Higher than Everest’, Indian Spinal Injury Center is excelling by the day. With launch of dedicated department for Arthroscopy and orthopedic sports medicine, ISIC has achieved the excellence of South Africa in sports medicine. SA is regarded as the best in the world on this count.

The dedicated department also provides a complete rehabilitation for patients using multiple techniques including physiotherapy, hydrotherapy et al.  It has the best facility to treat all kinds of common joint problems and sports related injuries.

HPS Ahluwalia, the chairman of the centre, Dr. H.S. Chhabra, Head, Indian Spinal Injuries Centre and others showcased the dedicated sports centre and global facilities to media. Dr. Chabra said, ‘the treatment of spine injury is an uphill task because it takes a long time and it is prohibitively exorbitant. Neither government nor any private corporate hospital think spine repair a viable proposition, hence they do not have any urge to go for spine centre of excellence. But given the indefatigable spirit of its chairman, ISIC has covered the tortuous journey and is rubbing shoulder with the best in the world. We have made global and affordable both.’

Dr. Chhabra further said, ‘Not long ago, sports persons would have to go to South Africa or other countries where sports medicine are of highest order. Not any more. Indian Spinal Injuries Centre has evolved into global sports medicine standard with state of art facilities at its command.’

‘Sports medicine is the need of the hour on both counts; either interest in games or sports is waning or waxing. If children are becoming ‘couch potatoes’ and do not go to play, they would be more prone to bone and joint injuries, more than even those who go to play,’ he added.

Now it can boast of having India’s largest solar heated Hydrotherapy Pool. Physiotherapy has a very vital role to play in sports injury treatment. This pool has added much value to physiotherapy and is a must in Spots Medicine centre of world standard. While doing exercise in water, pull of gravity is eliminated and buoyancy is so handy. Exercises which are difficult to do outside become easy to do in water. Since water is heated, it augments circulation and also adds to the general well being of the patient.

Major Ahluwalia said, ‘ISIC has a very rich faculty of doctors who have been trained in Arthroscopy and Orthopaedic Sports Medicine from some of the best institutes in India and abroad. We have a team of five consultants dedicated to only sports injuries.’

‘Arthroscopic surgery offers the unique advantage of treating the joint problems using a keyhole method. So the patient is on his feet or is able to use his arm for routine activities from the very next day after most of the arthroscopic procedures,’ adds Dr. Maninder Shah Singh, Foot, Ankle & Small Joint specialist at ISIC.

  ‘In India, there is a glaring paucity of advanced sports medicine facilities. This is why we see most of our professional sportspersons head to foreign shores for treatment and rehabilitation. A lot of our athletes who cannot afford to travel abroad are often left without adequate support with shortened careers. One of the prime objectives of establishing a dedicated sports medicine facility is to fill this void. We want to help sportspersons from across the country get back to their field with the best of help,’says Dr.H.S.Chhabra, Medical Director & Chief of Spine Services

 ‘Lack of awareness about the consequences of injuries often put careers of sportspersons in disarray. Sometimes, players ignore minor niggles, which then magnify into major tears and injuries. Sometimes, even the coaches and trainers are not well-trained enough to guide sportspersons to work out and build strength in the right way. In smaller centers, sportspersons often train without any expert guidance altogether. In fact, such is the state of sports in our country that a majority of young sportspersons are not even educated about appropriate warm up and stretching procedures and the need for right training practices. In the absence of right trainers, many fend for themselves and end up with serious injuries. Also arthroscopic techniques are equally useful in treating problems in non-sportspersons such as shoulder pain in middle aged people,”’adds Dr.Maninder Singh, Consultant Trauma & Orthopedics, ISIC