Sports medicine physician
The diagnosis comes before the treatment. Board-certified sports physician assessment, and an honest answer when the problem belongs elsewhere.
Rehab Lab provides sports medicine physician care at our Wauwatosa and Appleton clinics. The distinction this page covers is the clinician rather than the facility: who examines you, what they are qualified to rule out, and how the diagnosis is reached before anyone decides on a treatment.
Our founder Dr. Sam Wagner holds the Diplomate of the American Chiropractic Board of Sports Physicians (DACBSP), the profession’s highest sports credential, alongside a Masters of Sports Rehabilitation Science. He sees patients by application only; the rest of the team works from the same assessment model.
Sports medicine physician services
What physician-level sports assessment most often leads to:
Sports Injuries Get back in the game with assessment, treatment, and performance work.
Active Release Technique (ART) Targeted soft-tissue work that breaks up muscle adhesions and scar tissue so tight, restricted muscles can move and load the way they should again.
Corrective Exercise & Rehab Personalized strength and movement programming that rebuilds the way you load and move, so the pain we resolve in the office actually stays gone.
Knee Pain Runner’s knee, meniscus, and arthritis pain managed with targeted care.
Shoulder Pain Rotator cuff, frozen shoulder, and impingement, treated at the source.
Hip Pain Bursitis, labral, arthritis, and IT-band pain addressed directly.Rotator Cuff Injury Targeted care for rotator cuff strains and tears so the shoulder loads and lifts again.
Graston Technique Instrument-assisted soft-tissue work to break down scar tissue and fascial restrictions.What a sports physician assessment actually involves
A history that asks what changed in your training before it asks what hurts, then a movement examination that tests the joints above and below the painful one. Most musculoskeletal pain is referred or compensatory, so examining only the sore structure is how the wrong thing gets treated for six weeks.
You get the findings explained in plain language, a working diagnosis, and treatment in the same visit. If the examination suggests something outside our scope, imaging, a fracture, an inflammatory or systemic cause, you are told that directly and pointed where you should go, which is the part of the credential that matters most.
When you need a physician rather than a treatment
Any injury with visible deformity, inability to bear weight, a joint that gave way, or neurological signs such as progressive weakness or numbness. Pain that has not changed at all in three to four weeks of sensible self-management. Anything where you have been treated repeatedly for the same complaint without the underlying cause changing.
Equally, a great deal of what comes through the door is straightforward mechanical pain that needs good hands-on care and a loading programme, not a specialist. Knowing which is which is the whole job, and it is why the examination is not a formality we rush to get to the table.
How this differs from our other categories
This page is about the clinician and the diagnosis. The sports medicine clinic page covers the facility and the return-to-sport model built around it. Pain management covers persistent pain specifically, and physical rehabilitation covers the rebuilding phase.
In practice the same visit usually touches more than one. You are not choosing a department when you book.
Sports medicine physician at both clinics
Our other categories
Common questions about sports medicine physician
What does DACBSP mean?
Diplomate of the American Chiropractic Board of Sports Physicians, the profession’s highest sports credential. It requires years of additional study and examination beyond the chiropractic doctorate, with an emphasis on diagnosis, emergency assessment and return-to-play decision making.
Is a sports chiropractor the same as a sports medicine physician?
Not automatically. Any chiropractor can treat athletes; the sports physician credential is a specific post-doctoral qualification in sports diagnosis and management. We are straightforward about which clinician you are seeing and what they hold.
Will I need imaging?
Often not. Most musculoskeletal problems are diagnosed from history and a hands-on examination, and imaging a symptom-free spine commonly finds age-related changes that send treatment in the wrong direction. We refer for imaging when your presentation warrants it, and we will explain what it would change.
Can you see me if I already have a diagnosis from another doctor?
Yes, and bring the report and any imaging. We will work from what has already been established rather than starting over, and tell you honestly if our examination suggests something different from what you were told.
How do I see Dr. Sam specifically?
By application only. He keeps a limited caseload and takes patients through an application rather than standard booking, and also offers concierge travel treatment. Get in touch to start that conversation; for most cases another of our doctors will see you sooner and just as thoroughly.
What if the problem is not musculoskeletal?
We tell you and refer you. Screening at the first visit exists specifically to catch presentations that belong with a physician, an orthopedist or an emergency department. Treating something outside our scope would waste your money and delay care that matters.
Ready to fix the cause, for good?
Book at our Wauwatosa or Appleton clinic and get a real plan from a doctor who treats the cause, not just the symptom.
Wauwatosa · Appleton · No referral needed