When people hear "sports medicine," they often picture professional athletes with torn ACLs. In reality, sports medicine on Long Island serves a much broader population: weekend golfers, tennis players, runners, gym members, hikers, and anyone whose active lifestyle has led to joint pain, muscle strain, or an injury that will not heal.
Who Benefits from Sports Medicine?
Sports medicine treats musculoskeletal problems in active people of all ages. On Long Island, that includes the teacher who walks 10,000 steps a day at work and now has knee pain, the 55-year-old golfer whose shoulder aches after every round, the runner training for a local 5K who developed shin splints, the parent who tweaked their back picking up a child, and the retiree whose hip stiffness limits their morning walks.
If your pain is related to movement, activity, or physical demands, sports medicine is designed for you.
What Makes Sports Medicine Different?
Sports medicine physicians are trained to evaluate injuries and pain through the lens of function and activity. The goal is not just to reduce pain but to get you back to doing what you enjoy.
Dr. Marisa Formica at M&S Great Neck specializes in non-surgical sports medicine and orthopedics. Her approach starts with understanding your specific activity demands and building a care plan around returning you to those activities safely.
This often includes targeted physical therapy prescriptions (not generic "go do PT" referrals, but specific protocols for your injury and goals), ultrasound-guided injections for precision placement, PRP therapy when tissue healing support is appropriate, bracing and taping strategies, activity modification guidance that keeps you moving while healing, and coordination with orthopedic surgery only when conservative care is not enough.
Common Conditions Treated
Knee injuries: Meniscus tears, ligament sprains, patellar tracking problems, runner's knee, and IT band syndrome. Many of these respond to structured therapy and do not need surgery.
Shoulder pain: Rotator cuff tendinitis, impingement, bursitis, and mild rotator cuff tears. Non-surgical management is successful for many patients when started early.
Hip and groin pain: Labral irritation, hip flexor strains, bursitis, and early arthritis. Hip problems are often undertreated because patients assume nothing can be done without replacement.
Foot and ankle issues: Plantar fasciitis, Achilles tendinitis, ankle sprains, and stress reactions. Sports medicine connects the biomechanical picture (how you move) with the injury pattern.
Overuse injuries: Tendinopathy, stress fractures, and repetitive strain. These are common in Long Island residents who ramp up activity too quickly in spring or push through pain during busy seasons.
When to See Sports Medicine vs. Orthopedic Surgery
Start with sports medicine if your injury does not involve obvious fracture or dislocation, you want to explore non-surgical options first, your pain is related to activity and you want a return-to-activity plan, or you have been told you "just need PT" but want a specialist guiding the plan.
Consider orthopedic surgery if imaging shows a complete ligament tear or displaced fracture, conservative treatment has failed after a fair trial, or mechanical symptoms (locking, catching, instability) suggest structural damage that will not heal on its own.
At M&S, Dr. Formica and Dr. Manouel work together. If a patient needs surgical evaluation, the handoff is seamless.
Sports Medicine at M&S Great Neck
The Great Neck office serves active adults from Manhasset, Port Washington, Garden City, Hicksville, Huntington, Melville, and communities across Nassau and Suffolk counties. If an injury or chronic pain is keeping you from the activities you enjoy, call (516) 960-1954 to schedule with Dr. Formica.