Dr. Murphy Answers Frequently Asked Questions about Common Sports Injuries

Paul C. Murphy, MD

Sports Medicine Specialist & Orthopedic Surgeon located in La Jolla, San Diego, CA

Dr. Murphy is an orthopedic surgeon who has practiced in San Diego since 1988. He specializes in sports medicine and arthroscopic surgery. He completed his residency in San Diego in 1985, and was Board Certified in 1987 and recertified in 1996 and 2006. He obtained a CAQ (Certificate of Added Qualification) in Sports Medicine in 2012 from the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM). His career lead him to serve in the United States Navy as an orthopedic surgeon in Naples where he was head of the Department of Orthopedics for two years. He was also mobilized to serve in Desert Storm in 1991.

In addition to sports medicine, Dr. Murphy cared for trauma patients regularly at Sharp Memorial Hospital, which led to his association with the sport of Supercross in the early 1990s. He would treat the legends of Supercross, including Jeremy McGrath, Mike LaRocco, Bubba Stewart, Ricky Carmichael, and many others. He has become known as the Supercross doctor.

Dr. Murphy would become one of the team orthopedic surgeons for the San Diego Chargers in 1994 and became the head team doctor in 1998. He would continue his role as team doctor for the Chargers until 2002. He would then become a head team physician for the University of San Diego. At the University of San Diego, he would be responsible for caring for all of the athletes who participate in Division I sports including men’s football, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s soccer, and women’s volleyball. He would be responsible for instructing student athletic trainers at the University in his role as head team physician.

Dr. Murphy is also the team physician for Cathedral Catholic High School and Saint Augustine High School. He donates his time to high school athletes and runs a free clinic on Saturday mornings in the fall of each year for high school athletes who have been injured in Friday night football games.

Dr. Murphy continues to treat sports medicine injuries, both surgically and nonoperatively, specializing in shoulder and knee injuries. He is one of the very few orthopedic surgeons in the San Diego County and Southern California areas who employs Sonorex treatments (Shock Wave Therapy, a form of lithotripsy) for chronic joint injuries and tendonitis rather than surgery. The most common form of tendonitis includes lateral epicondylitis at the elbow, patellar tendonitis at the knee, Achilles tendonitis at the ankle, and plantar fasciitis at the foot. All of these conditions can now be treated non-operatively with equal success compared to surgery.

Dr. Murphy has been a pioneer of in-office MRI use and outpatient surgery centers that are within his same building, allowing patients to be treated more seamlessly during acute and chronic phases of people’s injuries.

Dr. Murphy is married to his wife, Lynn, and has five children. His free time is spent with his family, surfing or golfing.