Sports Medicine Clinic Provides Services for All

You don’t have to be a football star to benefit from sports medicine. You don’t have to be an athlete at all, said Dr. Gregory Rubin, DO, a physician with the sports medicine department at NCH.

“We get athletes playing team sports, we get weekend warriors, we get people who just say, “I fell last night and banged my knee,” said Rubin. “I’m the first line of defense for anyone with any sort of injury, head to toe,” and 90 percent of those injuries, he added, can be treated non-surgically. 

Since you can’t schedule ahead of time when an accident will happen, NCH makes being seen in the Sports Medicine Walk-In Clinic easy. If you or a family member need their services, the clinic can get you in promptly to see an acute injury specialist and help you avoid high emergency room bills. The clinic holds walk-in hours every day from 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM, Monday through Friday, with no appointment needed.

The NCH sports medicine staff does treat elite athletes on a regular basis. Dr. Rubin is team physician for all the FGCU Division I sports teams, including the champion women’s basketball and men’s baseball teams, and women’s and men’s volleyball and soccer teams. He also consults with the ECHL (formerly East Coast Hockey League) champion Florida Everblades ice hockey team as a member of their medical team, and he has the jerseys, autographed team photographs and game balls to prove it. 

But his professional consultations more often come, said Rubin, from amateur athletes – “pickleball, tennis, and golf, the big three” – as well as everyday mishaps. “We call ourselves the pickleball doctors,” he said. Rubin says there are more cases of “pickleball knee” in the area than tennis elbow despite the higher profile of the chronic tennis injury. Given that Collier County is referred to as the pickleball capital of the world, it only makes sense it is also the pickleball injury capital. 

Treatments provided include ultrasound-guided musculoskeletal injections, physical therapy, and regenerative treatments using platelet-rich plasma, in addition to surgical options. The corticosteroid injections can often provide quick and substantial relief from joint pain, and Dr. Rubin, with specialized training, uses the department’s new ultrasound scanner for precise guidance to improve the accuracy of all injections. 

One recent addition to the sports medicine staff’s toolkit is the Tenex procedure, a non-surgical option to treat chronic tendonitis or plantar fasciitis using ultrasound frequencies to break up and remove damaged tissue on the tendons, leaving behind only healthy tissue. It is performed on an outpatient basis. 

Even more high-tech medicine is on the way. The world’s preeminent orthopedic medical system, HSS, the Hospital for Special Surgery, is partnering with NCH to open an 80,000+ square foot, $130 million orthopedic center at the NCH North Naples campus. The new facility, scheduled to open in 2025, will be a destination for comprehensive outpatient and inpatient musculoskeletal services, including a jointly owned and operated ambulatory surgery center, clinics, imaging, and rehabilitation services. The pioneering collaboration is part of the transformation of NCH to become an Advanced Community Healthcare System.

The acute injury department also maintains what they call the “bone phone,” a referral hotline for urgent care or primary physicians. “We review x-rays and refer the patient to the proper provider,” said Dr. Rubin, all to ensure timely, appropriate treatment. All treatments are typically covered by health insurance. The clinic provides follow-up visits, refers patients to physical therapy as needed, and can also fit patients with an array of durable medical equipment, including boots, wrist braces, slings, and walking shoes, to make injured joints immobile and patients mobile.

“People are being more active now, so they are getting hurt. We help patients maximize their function, to be their best selves, minimizing disability and time away from sports, work or school,” said Dr. Rubin. 

How do you decide whether or not you need the services of the sports medicine clinic? You’ll know, said Dr. Rubin. “Patients tell me that when their pain is keeping them awake at night, they’re not scheduling trips, or they can’t do the things they want to do to enjoy life, they know it’s time to come in.” 

The NCH sports medicine clinic is located at 1285 Creekside Blvd. in Naples. To schedule an appointment, call (239) 624-0310.