Portland, OR: Winter high school sports are in full swing now as thousands of young men and women all around the US are on the playing field learning valuable lessons in teamwork, perseverance and sacrifice.They are also taking a risk. Football, in particular, is a sport based on high-speed collisions. While this makes for exciting spectating, it poses a significant risk to the players. Grain Integrative Health, a prominent primary health care clinic in Portland, OR wants parents and players to know there are ways for athletes to protect themselves and fully recover if an injury is sustained.

Dr. Samuel Oltman is a naturopathic physician at Grain Integrative Health. He is a lifelong athlete and has tailored his medical practice to reflect his passion for sports, injury recovery and performance optimization. Dr. Oltman was a three sport athlete in high school playing football, basketball and track. He was an all-state performer in football as a wide receiver and in track for the 400 meter. He went on to play football at Oregon State University for 2 years as a walk-on and won a team award for outstanding offensive scout team player. He wants his patients to know that being an athlete means being healthy, “Playing football at Oregon State was an incredible experience that I truly believe set me on the course I am on now by encouraging me to turn my attention toward how I can optimize my performance and sustain a high level of health and fitness. I definitely hit my physical limit playing football at that level but I learned a lot about sports performance and myself. I am very proud of my one career reception,” Dr. Oltman says with a smile. “Ultimately, I decided to stop playing after two years because my passion was shifting and I wanted to pursue medicine with all of my energy. I can say that sitting here today, it paid off in a big way as I am now a physician with a focus on sports performance and recovery, practicing in a health-based model that gives my patients the best chance to live and play to their fullest potential.”

Dr. Oltman offers a full array of services at Grain Integrative Health for athletes of all ages, from nutrition and injury prevention to injury recovery, pain treatments and concussion treatments. “Concussions are a serious injury that, for good reason, have received a lot of press lately, but they have always been happening. This increased awareness has furthered the science behind both the effects of concussions on the brain and treatments that can lower the inflammation in the brain to help the healing process.” He is accepting new patients at Grain Integrative Health.