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Business Profile
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LifeSport Medicine & Wellness Center Keeps Santa Cruz Athletes in the Game
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The Mid-County Post > Business Profile
LifeSport Medicine & Wellness Center Keeps Santa Cruz Athletes in the Game
By Karen Menehan
With our ocean, trails, beaches and mild weather, Santa Cruz County is an athlete's paradise—and many local athletes and fitness buffs rely on Barbara J. MacFarlane, M.D., owner and director of LifeSport Medicine & Wellness Center in Capitola, to keep them in the game.
Dr. MacFarlane counts professional athletes including tri-athletes, marathon runners and boxers among her patients, but the center also serves many people beyond elite athletes.
Non-professional surfers, runners and bicyclists, as well as weekend warriors, and high-school and adult recreational athletes (think soccer, baseball, basketball, football and tennis) also depend on Dr. MacFarlane and her staff for their fitness and rehabilitation needs. Even the non-athlete who has a joint, ligament, tendon or muscle problem finds a place for treatment at LifeSport Medicine.
When a patient first walks through the door of LifeSport Medicine, Dr. MacFarlane consults with him or her to determine the strength and fitness goal level and performs a medical diagnosis. As the facility's medical doctor, she is the only health professional on staff who may prescribe medication, perform injections or write a prescription for physical therapy. However, many patients find their way to LifeSport Medicine with a prescription for physical therapy from their personal physicians.
Dr. MacFarlane also educates each patient on what to expect from sessions, and oversees the course of treatment.
Building a Personal Program
After the initial diagnosis, treatment expands to include MacFarlane's staff: Certified Physical Therapist Lolly Smith and Certified Athletic Trainers Candice Davis, Eiichi Fujii and Kevin Yamashiro. They offer 45- to 60-minute sessions that may include stretching, aerobic exercise, weightlifting and conditioning, electrical stimulation or ultrasound.
"The mainstay of treatment is strength and conditioning, and developing a program that you can do at home or that's in combination with a gym," MacFarlane explains. "Settling inflammation and pain and then moving on to maximizing function is the goal of treatment no matter the age or activity level of the patient."
LifeSport Medicine's patients may be guided through sessions with free weights, circuit training equipment, a treadmill, bicycle, Healthrider or exercise balls in their fitness and rehabilitation regimens. The goals of all sessions are to improve function and prevent further injury, Dr. MacFarlane notes.
Her staff also performs myofascial release, a type of massage that releases pain and improves flexibility. In the early stages of treatment, this is often necessary before strength and function can be improved.
Getting Better
Injury isn't all that brings patients to LifeSport Medicine; the staff also designs fitness routines for people who want to get healthier and maintain their fitness level under the guidance of the three Certified Athletic Trainers on staff.
There's a big difference between an athletic coach and a Certified Athletic Trainer, according to Dr. MacFarlane.
"When you go to a health club and have a trainer there, it's completely different," she says. "The Certified Athletic Trainers at Lifesport Medicine all have master's degrees from San Jose State in athletic training. It is a rigorous program in education and practical experience in rehabilitation."
From youth to middle age, active seniors to professional athletes, LifeSport Medicine's patients are as diverse as the treatments they receive there. Dr. MacFarlane says the people in Santa Cruz who care about their fitness tend to be "very intense" about it, but there is a large percentage of people locally who are not nearly as fit as they could be.
"The people who are fit are staying really fit, while the people who are unfit are becoming… heavier and more unfit," she explains.
She adds that this dichotomy of fitness versus ill health mirrors the nation's population. In the U.S., 34 percent of adults age 20 and older are obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, while 17.6 percent of youth ages 12 to 19 are obese.
Dr. MacFarlane says for people who want to eat well, the best advice is to eat fresh ingredients rather than prepared foods.
"Don't buy packaged things," she says. "Go back to basics, eat fresh vegetables and fresh fruits, and cook your own meat or fish."
Along with good nutrition, Dr. MacFarlane says the two most important things that will help a person stay healthy are getting enough sleep and exercise. Exercise is the focus of health for LifeSport Medicine.
Following Her Own Advice
To stay in shape herself, Dr. MacFarlane runs and plays tennis competitively.
She grew upon the southern shores of Lake Huron in Ontario, Canada, and later moved to Calgary, Alberta. She's been involved in athletics since a young age, and in college earned a master's degree in exercise physiology. While doing so, she worked in cardiac rehabilitation, and found herself "totally fascinated" by the relationship between exercise and health.
"The fact that you could combine the two in medicine, that's what motivated me to go to medical school," she recalls.
Dr. MacFarlane completed her M.D. at the University of Calgary and her residency in family medicine at Holy Cross Hospital, also in Calgary. She later added to her interest in exercise and sports injuries by doing extra training in orthopedic surgery.
Dr. MacFarlane has been a physician for 26 years. She assists in orthopedic surgeries at Dominican Hospital, and has lived in Santa Cruz County since 1988.
"I had finished my training and was looking for something different to do," she says, explaining that she discovered Santa Cruz County when vacationing here.
She opened LifeSport Medicine & Wellness Center in 1992. MacFarlane is certified by the American Board of Family Practice, and holds a certificate of added qualifications in sports medicine. Also she is certified as an exercise specialist with the American College of Sports Medicine.
In her free time, Dr. MacFarlane enjoys
traveling, cooking and painting, but the health of Santa Cruz County's residents is her primary focus.
From eliminating pain to shaping and toning one's body, rehabilitation, weight loss and improved nutrition, the staff at LifeSport Medicine & Wellness Center provides the facility, equipment and expertise to achieve fitness goals.
What inspires Dr. MacFarlane most, she says, is helping people understand what their potential is, "as far as getting better and living a healthier, active life—and that includes highly competitive athletes to people who have never done exercise."
LifeSport Medicine & Wellness Center is located in the Twin Palms Building, 1260 41st Ave., Capitola. For more information, call 831-462-5000 or visit www.lifesportmedicine.com.
Business Profile is a regular feature of The Post, highlighting an advertiser and offering readers an opportunity to learn more about area business owners. For more information, call 831-476-9130.
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