Ask the Expert 2025
Nicole Friel, M.D.
Shriners Children’s Northern California
When she’s not running triathlons, Nicole Friel, M.D., is performing orthopedic surgery on junior athletes at Shriners Children’s Northern California. She’s part of a specialized pediatric sports medicine team helping kids recover from injuries and get back in the game.
What can students do to prepare for school sports?
It’s smart to have a sports physical to ensure there are no underlying issues that could increase the risk of injury. It’s also good to begin working out again and getting your body ready for the demands of your sport—start with strength training, flexibility exercises and cardiovascular workouts. It’s also important to eat a healthy diet and drink enough fluids to prevent dehydration and fatigue. You may want to consider a concussion screening to establish a baseline that would be useful if you sustain any kind of head injury.
What tools does Shriners Children’s have that help athletes perform?
Our Motion Analysis Center (MAC) is a state-of-the-art motion capture camera system that records movements using infrared cameras and reflective marks placed on the body. The information that’s gathered is translated to 3D animation, which allows the team to analyze a child’s movement. Also, Shriners Motion Analysis Return-to-Sports (SMARTS) testing is being developed to help assess functional biomechanics and optimize safe return to activity. Our network of Shriners Children’s MACs is the largest of its kind in the world, and we share and learn from each other’s data, which helps all the children we treat.
What sets Shriners Children’s apart?
We do a lot of complex surgeries at Shriners, and some are challenging to obtain insurance approval for, in part because children and adolescents have different indications and considerations than adults. For example, I do several cartilage procedures that are very expensive, but it’s not something that insurance will usually approve unless they’ve tried several other options that are likely to fail. Shriners Children’s covers these surgeries—and that’s how it should be.
To refer a patient: 916-453-2192 or ncal.info@shrinenet.org
2425 Stockton Blvd. Sacramento. shrinerschildrens.org/sacramento
Instagram: @shrinersnorca
Facebook: Shriners Children’s Northern California
