Sports medicine deals with both treatment and prevention of injuries; it is a field that is now far advanced in the developed but still in its infancy here. Most of Indian sportspersons are still unaware of the benefits of sports medicine. They indulge in self-treatment rather than see a doctor -- sometimes complicating their injury in the process.

Says Vinod Kanwar, who has been involved in football for the past two decades: ``Few doctors have any knowledge of sports-related injuries and are unable to treat them.'' Vinod has reason to say so: years ago when his right knee was injured in a hard tackle, and the doctor he consulted was unable to diagonse the injury. ``I was told that it was a major injury requiring surgery.'' But better sense prevailed: the footballer took some days off and was soon back in action.

"Here no separate branch of medicine deals with sports-related injuries," agreed Mandeep Singh Dhillon, a senior orthopedist at the PGI and a member of the panel of sports medicine experts at Patiala's National Institute of Sports. "And since there are no specialised doctors, the injured player to often seeks medical help when the injury has gone from bad to worse."

A shoulder injury, sustained in a fall, forced Panjab University cricketer Ashish Sharma, to quit the game. "Initially, I thought the pain would subside but when it carried on, I consulted doctors. They kept giving me pain killers and were unable to diagnose the real problem. When it aggravated, I had no choice other than to quit the game. Had there been prompt and specialist treatment, I would have recovered," he said.

However, minor injuries are manageable feels some coaches. "Some injuries like strain to the hamstring and minor ankle sprain can be treated, but if its severe I advice my trainees to see a doctor," said K.S. Bharti, a senior basketball coach in the UT Sports Department. However, Shiv Singh, boxing coach with the Sports Authority of India (SAI) is more vocal. "A coach cannot be a doctor and a doctor can't be a coach." Some injuries, when not properly treated, can often leads to a major deformity.