Whether you are a professional athlete or just a “weekend warrior”, there are two things that all athletes have in common: they want to have the best possible performance in their chosen sport each time they go out, and they both have the potential of getting injured.
Let’s take the weekend athlete, or more simply, anyone who enjoys exercising. Injuries happen, pure and simple. While these injuries can be minimized, they cannot be totally avoided. If a person participates enough in any physical activity, eventually that person will suffer from an injury to a certain degree. The way in which one treats his/her injuries determines how fast one recovers and how quickly one can comfortably return to the vigorous activity he/she enjoys.
Athletes may ask themselves why they get injured? They stretch, eat relatively healthy, hydrate and feel like they are in pretty good shape. So, why do they still injure themselves? Usually there is a very simple formula. In most cases, we play too hard, too long, or too fast without properly caring for ourselves pre- and post-activity. With routine, household duties such as spring cleaning, do any of us warm up before performing repetitive motions such as vacuuming, dusting, painting or carrying heavy boxes or loads of laundry? This may not seem like a sports injury, but in fact, overuse syndromes or playing full speed before our bodies are truly warmed up are the major causes of sports injuries. Simple household chores, while done cold, can mimic the same bodily workload that leads to a sports injury.
Some common sports injuries are:
- Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS)
- Muscle pull, tear or strain
- Ligament sprain/strain
- Iliotibial band/snapping hip syndrome
- Plantar fasciitis
- Shoulder tendonitis, bursitis, impingement syndrome
- Rotator cuff syndrome
- Elbow injuries (golfer’s/tennis elbow)
- Stingers (neck injuries)
- Ankle sprain
- Knee pain
If an athlete gets injured, the main objective is to return to the playing field as quickly as possible at full strength. Rest and icing is always beneficial, but by itself, can take a very long time.
Chiropractic offers an effective, efficient non-invasive treatment that will speed up the healing process allowing the athlete to return to the playing field. By using the chiropractic adjustment to mobilize “stuck” spinal and extremity joints allowing normal mobility and coordinated function of the body. The doctor may also use therapeutic modalities to help the supportive tissues (muscles, tendons, & ligaments) heal more quickly in the proper arrangement. If injured tissue is not properly arranged post-injury, the tissue may harden or fibrose and cause further joint mobility complications. As care is provided, better strategies for exercise, stretching and nutrition will be discussed with the athlete to better prepare on how to deal with the common aches and pain of rigorous exercise.
Many professional athletes are utilizing chiropractic care more and more because they realize that it helps them maximize athletic performance. If you understand the premise of chiropractic health care is to restore spinal health and mobility so the entire body has the best opportunity to maximize proper function and movement, it is not a mystery why so many professional athletes are turning to chiropractors to help them return to the playing field as quickly as possible.
With further questions due to injuries through physical activities, please contact the office at 732-920-8188 or email dryanchus@brickfamilychiropractic.com.
