Sports injuries can happen at any time to athletes. Seeing a chiropractor for sports athletes can be the difference-maker for a speedy recovery. Chiropractors specialize in decreasing the recovery time for sports injuries. Their goal is to get you back on the field, court, or rink as soon as possible! Chiropractic care is also used to prevent future sports injuries. For example, most professional athletes visit a sports chiropractor on a regular basis.
How does a chiropractor for sports injuries help and what are the benefits? Let’s find out!
Identify the Root Cause of Sports Injuries
Can you truly recover from an injury if you don’t know what it is caused by? Perhaps, but that won’t always be the case.
Chiropractors for sports injuries focus on identifying the root cause of pain. They don’t simply slap a band-aid on your injury. Chiropractic care works well for athletes because these Doctors look at the body as a whole.
Chiropractors Look at the Body as a Whole
Everything in the body is connected. Our nervous system runs throughout our spine and influences various functions within our body. For example, our nervous system can affect:
- Digestion
- Mood
- Heart Rate
- Coordination
These factors all play a role in how we function throughout the day. If you play a sport that requires intense focus and quick movements, you want your nervous system to be healthy. Small, microseconds are crucial to scoring that basket or hitting the ball correctly.
When an athlete suffers from a sports injury, there are likely multiple things that played a role in how that happened. Of course, if you sprain your ankle during a game, the physical force of you landing on your foot incorrectly is one of the major causes of that injury. But wait…there’s more.
Injuries are more likely to happen if that area of the body is already under some form of stress. This can be caused by physical and emotional stress. For example, if our spine is out of alignment, that can affect your balance, hips, sciatica, and ultimately your feet. By being out of alignment, injuries like sprained ankles are more likely to occur. Chiropractors for sports injuries look at the entire body. Their goal is to improve your overall physical health through chiropractic adjustments, which will help prevent future sports injuries.
Chiropractic Care Improves Range of Motion
Flexibility isn’t only for ballerinas and dancers. Improving your range of motion is a huge advantage that you get from seeing a sports chiropractor. There have been multiple studies showing that increasing your flexibility helps you run faster. Does your sport require a ton of running? Well, giddy up! Time to see a chiropractor for sports injuries. Your game will completely transform with these small, physical advantages. What sports athlete doesn’t want a leg up on the competition?
Flexibility of Injured Joints and Muscles
When athletes suffer from injuries during sports games, they can have a long road to recover. Physical therapy, ice baths, massage, and chiropractic care are all important tools to use during this process.
By seeing a chiropractor for sports injuries, your muscles and joints get the best possible chance to heal fast. Injuries, such as a torn shoulder or fractured elbow, take weeks to heal. Naturally, the joints are resistant to the standard range of motion that your body is accustomed to.
Chiropractors that help with sports injuries work on the entire body. They don’t only adjust your back and neck. These sports chiropractors will give attention to any part of the body that needs it. Joints tend to lose flexibility after sports injuries. Whether it’s from baseball, basketball, tennis, or golf, your range of motion is vital to your athletic performance. Fortunately, chiropractic care works with these injured parts of your body to keep them loose and increase their range of motion.
Decreases Recovery Time from Sports Injuries
“Time keeps on ticking, ticking, ticking, into the future.” – Seal
Waiting for a sports injury to heal can take forever. We only have this one body and one life. Sitting on the sidelines as you miss out on important games or matches is not fun. Chiropractors for sports injuries decrease your overall recovery time. How does this healing magic happen so quickly? Two words: decrease inflammation.
Injuries typically are accompanied by bruising, pain, and inflammation. The sooner that decreases the swelling and inflammation of a sports injury, the quicker that you can back to playing. An inflamed joint or muscle group makes moving more difficult. The motions that you’re used to doing while playing your sport can seem close to impossible if an injury is not fully healed.
Chiropractic adjustments help athletes decrease inflammation around sports injuries. This is true for all parts of the body, not just the spine. Blood flow increases after you get adjusted by a chiropractor. The inflammation begins to go down from this. You can get your swing or throw back in no time after seeing a chiropractor for sports injuries.
Pain Relief After Seeing a Sports Chiropractor
Pain relief goes without saying but should be mentioned. Experiencing relief from pain is crucial to operating as a normal human being after a severe sports injury. Chiropractors work with athletes to align joints that need it. They also help release stored tension in the muscles around the injury. The benefits mentioned before, such as increased blood flow and decreased inflammation, attribute to the relief of pain you will experience. Chiropractic care is used to help professional athletes worldwide experience relief from the pain of sports injuries.
Reduce Anxiety Around Injuries
When sports are your life, anything preventing you from playing can cause anxiety. The same goes for sports injuries. It’s frustrating on multiple levels when you must sit out for an entire season due to an injury. Of course, you should do everything in your power to recover quickly. While you wait throughout the recovery period, what else should you do? Seeing a chiropractor for sports injuries will reduce anxious thoughts and emotions around the situation.
“Did you just say chiropractic and emotions are related?”
Well, not all chiropractic techniques are made equal. At Twin Waves Wellness Center, we practice a holistic chiropractic technique called Network Spina Analysis. There is an emotional component to healing. Our goal is to help you recover in any physical and/or emotional way that you feel like you need. When our emotions are aligned and we’re feeling happy throughout the day, our bodies typically follow suit.
Chiropractic Care is Non-Invasive
When seeing a chiropractor for sports injuries, there are no prescription drugs involved in the recovery process. Chiropractic care is completely non-invasive. As Doctors of Chiropractic (D.C.’s), we believe that the body is intelligent. It has the power and ability to heal on its own. We use focused chiropractic adjustments to realign what is needed and help your body recover.
Your Body is Intelligent
Ideally, athletes should consider a chiropractor for sports injuries before choosing surgery. Of course, this isn’t the case for every injury. Consult several healthcare professionals regarding serious injuries suffered from while playing sports.
Chiropractors Prevent Future Sports Injuries
Dealing with the emotional roller coaster of playing sports on a competitive level is a challenge, especially when trying to avoid injuries. You can stretch, take ice baths, and visit yoga studios to help your body recover from rigorous sports games. Consistently seeing your chiropractor for sports injuries helps prevent future ones.
Improve Your Balance and Coordination
Keeping your spine and joints aligned increases your body’s overall balance. This is key when playing technical sports, such as baseball or golf. When your spine is out of alignment, your legs can be different lengths. Imagine if one leg was several inches shorter than the other. That would make it difficult to run in a sports game. That’s a dramatic example, but unequal leg length is very common.
For athletes that are consistently pushing through chronic pain, their coordination can be off. How much can you focus on that shot in the game while you’re in pain? Many athletes view pain as ‘part of the process’. What if it didn’t have to be?
Decrease chronic pain, whether minor or severe, by visiting a chiropractor for sports injuries. They specialize in mitigating the pain you’re experiencing by fixing the actual, root cause of the injury. Sports chiropractors consider the entire body and all factors when formulating a care plan for an athlete. You will maintain strong balance and improve your coordination by receiving chiropractic care.
Finding a chiropractor for sports injuries near you
You can find a chiropractor specifically for sports injuries by searching online. If you live in San Diego, give us a call at (760) 487-8106. We can help you recover from a sports injury and get back to playing quickly. Our goal is to design a customized care plan that best fits your needs and health goals.
Click here to learn more about seeing a chiropractor in Solana Beach. Chiropractors help athletes with sports injuries of all kinds. Our office is here to support you along your healing journey.