Professional athletes like Usain Bolt, Tom Brady and Michael Jordan have long sung the praises of their chiropractic care taking them to the next level of sports performance. But you don’t have to be an Olympian to reap the same benefits.
From a proactive, preventative standpoint, chiropractic care can help increase performance via the nervous system. Benefits shown in research include better mobility in the spine and extremities, quicker reaction time, and better proprioception (body awareness).
However, chiropractic care can also be essential to the healing of a sports injury. Here are some of the common injuries seen by chiropractors:
Chiropractic For Sprain & Strain Injuries
Sprains are sustained when a ligament (tissue connecting bone to bone) stretches excessively or tears. ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) injuries are often seen with a rotational compressive trauma to the knee, sometimes requiring surgery.
Strains are a tear in a muscle or tendon (tissue connecting muscle to bone). The rear part of the ankle is the site of the tough, strong Achilles Tendon. Injuries to this tendon can be debilitating and take months to heal.
Sprains and strains are common among runners, footballers, and rugby players. Both of these injuries can take weeks to months to heal due to the nature of the tissues involved. Ligaments do not get as much blood flow as muscles, so they can take longer to heal. A muscle injury can take 4-6 weeks to heal and a joint injury 3-6 months.
Chiropractic adjustments can have an anti-inflammatory effect on the entire body, which is essential to long-term healing. While inflammation plays a pivotal role in the immediate stabilization of an injured area, chronic inflammation can lead to many secondary problems if not addressed properly early on. In addition to rehabilitating these sites of injury with exercises and stretches, neurological changes can happen post-injury, necessitating care for the nervous system to promote optimal communication from the central nervous system out through the peripheral nerves into these joints and surrounding tissues. Chiropractic care focuses on neurological integrity in the body, allowing it to function better.
Meniscus and Knee Injuries
Cartilaginous structures like the meniscus can be torn during rotational and/or compressive traumas. Meniscus can also become worn down from chronic postural or gait asymmetries. (Do you ever notice that one leg is stronger than the other? Do you tend to lean to one side rather than the other?) Very little blood-flow gets into the meniscus, leaving it susceptible to slow or impaired repair.
Chiropractic care addressing postural imbalances and structural changes to the spine and pelvis can help guide the body back into a more balanced position, reducing the asymmetrical wear side to side. Extremity adjustments to the knee joint can improve range of motion, reduce inflammation, and decrease pain.
Frozen Shoulder
Frozen shoulder is the reduction or loss of range of motion in the shoulder due to inflammation of the shoulder capsule. This is a common injury in women during menopause because of lowered estrogen levels. While this condition can self-resolve over time - sometimes up to a few years - chiropractic care has helped increase healing time significantly, allowing people to return to normal activity quickly.
These and other injuries, ranging from tennis elbow to shin splints, can heal faster and better with a proactive approach. Optimizing nervous system function through chiropractic care is an excellent approach.
Unresolved injuries to the joints of the arms and legs can be assessed by your chiropractor. Electra Chiropractic offers consultations with Japan's only native English speaking, internationally educated woman chiropractor. Book here to get a full assessment of your current condition.
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