Stephan M. Esser, M.D.

Location

Summary

Stephan M. Esser, M.D., has special interest in the areas of sports medicine and lifestyle medicine research. His passion is to help promote and keep individuals active and injury-free while optimizing their performance and function.

Focus areas

Sports medicine

• Injury in recreational tennis players. Involved in research examining injury rates and the associated risks in recreational adult tennis players.
• Gluteal tendon dysfunction. Collaborating in a review of the natural history of gluteal tendon dysfunction and anticipated return to activity.
• Marathon running. Engaged in marathon running research related to injury rates, nutritional adaptations and methods of training.

Lifestyle medicine

• Participating in a collaborative study with Yale University to examine if short three- to five-minute video bursts of activity can positively affect physical activity efficacy and associated anthropomorphic data

Significance to patient care

Sports medicine

Physical activity is an important part of any health-promoting lifestyle, though increased activity also increases risk of injuries. Little is known about the rates and types of injuries in adult recreational tennis players. Dr. Esser's study will help elucidate this information and assist sports medicine professionals in educating players on injury risk and methods of prevention.

Running injuries are frequent and can limit continued participation in sports. The research under way will help guide future recommendations on nutrient intake and training patterns for those who choose running as a source of physical activity or a competitive sport.

Lifestyle medicine

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), fewer than 18 percent of adult Americans achieve their daily recommended physical activity. Developing methods to re-engineer physical activity into daily life is essential to help reverse the epidemic of lifestyle-related disease in America. This study examines a creative model for doing just that and may help shape future physical activity recommendations and empower patients to be more active.