Sports Injury Care is a major focus of a chiropractor’s practice. The body is an athlete’s primary tool. Maintaining that tool and ensuring that the body is in peak physical condition at all times is a high priority for professional athletes.
Chiropractic care is holistic, meaning that we take a wide-angle view of your lifestyle, including nutrition, physical training, emotional health, and daily routines when providing treatment. Athletes must also view these same areas, looking for any areas where a competitive edge can be reached.
Injuries are an inevitable result of hard training and competition. It happens to every athlete at some point in their career. A chiropractor should be near the top of your list of appointments to make if you suffer a sports injury.
The most common injuries suffered by professional athletes involve muscles and soft tissue. Sprains, strains, dislocations, and pain from overuse or improper use of muscle groups are all frequent complaints.
Sports Injury Prevention
Regular visits to your chiropractor can actually help you prevent a sports injury. By keeping your spine and joints in proper alignment at all times, you reduce the chance of a repetitive motion injury. Regular visits can also improve your overall balance, strengthen your core, and attain maximum muscle efficiency.
How Soon After a Sports Injury Should I Make an Appointment?
It is far easier to align scar tissue and replacement muscle fibers while they are being created, rather than realigning these tissues after they have formed. Collagen and muscle fibers begin knitting injuries back together almost immediately, but the process speeds up significantly as soon as the initial inflammation begins to clear up. This process usually begins three to five days after an injury.
While the affected body part may be too painful to receive an adjustment, our Beverly Hills office has other available therapies that should be used to promote proper healing. These therapies include:
- Massage
- Cold Laser Therapy
- Ultrasound
- Electrical Muscle Stimulation
- Heat Therapy
- Cold/Cryotherapy
- Acupuncture
Treatment during this stage of an injury can speed the process and prevent additional problems down the road.
We can help restore range of motion and proper alignment even years after an injury. By examining your posture and walking gait, we can determine if old sports injuries have created any conditions that, if addressed, could greatly improve your athletic performance.
For example, a low back injury can often cause a misalignment of your pelvis, making one leg slightly longer than the other. This disparity can cause a lopsided gait and increased pressure on one hip. This often leads to a cycle of pain and reinjury that can seriously affect your ability to run your fastest or swim your farthest.
Call NowI have had the great honor of treating many professional athletes over the years. My patients have included pro players from nearly every sport imaginable. My client list includes athletes from the NHL, NFL, Major and Minor League Baseball, NBA, and World Cup Soccer. I have also seen many professional dancers, boxers, MMA fighters, and Olympians.