Healing through exercise
Dr Pillay uses minimum medication, with exercise as therapy, to get his patients back on track.
DOCTOR Lervasen Pillay is based in Winchester Hills and is a Sasma (SA Sports Medicine Association) accredited sports physician who focuses on patients with musculo-skeletal conditions and those in need of exercise prescriptions.
His career and achievements speaks of a man with a passion for his profession, but also for his community.
Timeline of Dr Pillay’s professional career
Dr Pillay completed his schooling career in Lenasia and went on to study medicine at the University of Pretoria, followed by an internship at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital and community service at Matlala Hospital in Limpopo. He then spent three years as a medical officer in the orthopaedic department at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital and Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital (formerly Johannesburg General Hospital). He also worked as an emergency medicine registrar.
Pillay then managed a casualty, neuro-rehab and out-patient unit in Kempton Park for two years, while serving as a medical officer for local and international cricket matches.
It was in 2004 that Pillay opened his private practice in Winchester Hills, and in 2008 he became the head of medical for Bidvest Wits Football Club, a position he held until 2017. In 2015 he became the team doctor of the Bizhub Highveld Lions as well as the medical officer of the Gauteng Cricket Board, covering cricket matches at Bidvest Wanderers Stadium.
Pillay was the doping control officer at Loftus Versfeld Stadium during the 2009 Fifa Confederations Cup, and in the same year was appointed secretary of the Professional Soccer League Medical Group.
In 2011 he was appointed chief medical officer (CMO) for the IAAF World Athletics Championships in South Korea, and in 2012 he served as CMO for the South African team at the CAA African Athletics Championships in Benin. In 2012 he became a member of the medical sub-committee of the Premier Soccer League (PSL).
There is more
Our doctor didn’t stop there. In 2016 he was appointed CMO for Team SA at the African Union Sport Council Games in Luanda. He has also been a lecturer in the sports medicine department at the University of Pretoria since 2010, and this year was promoted to the position of extraordinary lecturer in the same department.
Pillay is an external consultant for Sascoc, several PSL teams, individual athletes, development football and cricket clubs and Endurocad elite runners. He has been the convenor of Sasma’s football medicine block since 2009 and has spoken at several conferences on musculo-skeletal conditions.
Giving back to the community
A great gift to the South indeed, Pillay is a travel medicine physician and assists the United Cerebral Palsy Association of SA in Townsview with any medical needs. He also helps underprivileged athletes who can’t afford medical attention with their sporting development.
In 2015 the busy businessman opened his second practice at Bidvest Stadium, and a year later opened another at Mayo Clinic on the West Rand. As a sports physician he uses exercise as medicine together with medication and diet changes as therapy to improve conditions including hypertension, diabetes and arthritis.
“I use sports and exercise with minimum medication to produce an aggressive and conservative treatment.”
The doctor, who has been living in the South since he married in 2005, enjoys watching sports and playing some of them too.
“I like playing golf, fishing, playing football, building things, wood work and listening to music. In my free time I try to do some of my hobbies, but it’s simply the best thing to get together with family and enjoy quality time together.”
Pillay has always had a passion for helping people and lives by the motto, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” (Matthew 7:12 and Luke 6:31).
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