Manipal Hospital has invested Rs 3 crore to set up a Department of Sports and Exercise Medicine. The department offers a range of services for all and not just for sportspersons.

Services offered include treatment for back pain which is a most common musculo-skeletal complaint in patients and often related to muscular imbalance or poor spinal joint movement. The treatment is aimed specifically at increasing spinal muscle strength, restoring muscular balance and optimizing spinal range of motion, throughout the body.

The department offers Preventive Strength Conditioning, a high intensity strength training programme targeted at isolated muscles. It also offers gait analysis wherein people will be able to analyze videos of their gait during a walk/run on a treadmill and get their gait corrected.

The GO² Altitude is a tool that helps in improving the endurance of patients through physiological adaptations of the pulmonary functions. This is useful for long distance athletes, mountaineers and trekkers and also for asthmatic and cardiac patients.

The department has installed a state-of-art testing and exercise machine, Primus RS at a cost of Rs 50 lakh. It performs functional and 3D multi-joint testing, rehabilitation and enhances performance of the patient. The tool can be used for sportspersons practicing cricket, tennis, golf and badminton. It is also useful for patients with musculo-skeletal injuries or diseases.

For golfers, the department offers a video analysis of the Golf Swing which will help understand the movement of the body in order to better the swing and prevent injury. Facilities such as Vibrogym, that stimulate muscles through high frequency vibrations, a Sports Massage and Sports Nutrition advices are also available.

The department was inaugurated by Justice N Santosh Hegde, head Karnataka Lokayukta.

According to Basil, managing director and CEO, Manipal Health Systems, the department will provide a comprehensive, professional, and effective treatment to the community. It will focus on preventive activities rather than just rehabilitation since injuries can mar the career of a sportsperson.

"We are not just looking at sportspersons but also the general public who can avail of the services offered in the department for a healthy lifestyle. We have professionals from different specialities such as psychology and nutrition who will offer a holistic healthcare to people," said Dr SC Nagendra Swamy, Group medical director.

The department will function between 6 am and 8 pm from Monday to Saturday and between 10 am to 2 pm on Sundays. Personalized attention will be provided to all patients by trained personnel in the department.