The American Chiropractic Association reports that 90 percent of all world-class athletes utilize chiropractic care to maximize their potential, prevent injuries, and improve performance.
Over the years, both professional and amateur sports teams have recognized the importance of having a sports chiropractor on their teams. Most athletic trainers today refer their players to chiropractor centers for evaluation or treatment.
Whether you’re on a team or in a league or play sports on the weekends for leisure, consulting an athletic chiropractor holds a lot of benefits for your overall health and performance.
Chiropractic Benefits for Athletes
Fitness enthusiasts, sports lovers, and athletes deal with several issues regarding their muscles and bones. It’s common for athletes to hurt themselves or incur injuries at some point in their careers. Visiting a sports chiropractor generally helps sports players achieve shorter recovery and — if not injured — improve their game performance.
Some well-known benefits of seeking sport-specific chiropractic care for athletes are:
1. Injury Prevention
Most people think that they should only see an athletic chiropractor when they suffer an injury or are experiencing pain. However, this is not the only way chiropractic care works. Consulting a chiropractor should be your initial step in preventing injuries.
Keeping your bones and muscles aligned properly allows you to function at your best. To do this, a chiropractor evaluates your muscles and bones and looks for any possible issues or misalignments. They perform the necessary care and adjustments to prevent further problems down the road if needed.
2. Specialized Care
Different athletes and sports players have their specific physical needs and demands. While chiropractors are helpful to athletes, sports chiropractors have a deeper focus and specific approach for each sport.
A sports chiropractor provides individualized care for each patient. Treatments may include different exercises, muscle work, and rehabilitation. These professionals use techniques similar to physical therapy, but their knowledge and expertise lean more towards improving spinal structure and function. More specifically, they focus on structural correction, muscle coordination, and balance.
3. Greater Flexibility
Several sports require athletes to maintain a level of flexibility to perform and prevent injuries. An athletic chiropractor helps you achieve these goals by decreasing muscle and joint stiffness and improving your range of motion.
Chiropractic care can also help address inflammation, improve strength, and correct any misalignment that may limit your range of motion. These issues are especially common for joints; chiropractors use cavitation on these areas to facilitate movement, ease pain, and remove restrictions.
4. Sports Injury Treatment
All sports come with the risk of injury, damage, and pain. Seeking chiropractic care helps shorten your recovery time, alleviate pain, and lessen the long-term side effects of these injuries.
While it’s common for different body parts to experience harm when playing sports, a structural chiropractor helps you achieve full-body optimization. They do this by examining your joints, ligaments, and body structure to gather information before recommending treatment.
The treatments they recommend range from addressing conditions like neck injuries to restoring proper functions to help your body recover from conditions like muscle tears.
An athletic chiropractor often combines structural exercises, adjustments, and traction therapy to boost body performance. Some also include supplementary treatments like acupuncture, massages, and physical therapy.
5. Enhanced Athletic Performance
Regardless of what sport you play, regular chiropractic care is worth the investment. A structural sports chiropractor helps you find the best way to keep your body functioning at an optimum level.
Some of the ways structural chiropractic care can help you perform better include: improving mobility and strength, preventing lower limb injuries, reducing recovery times, and eliminating pain and discomfort. These benefits allow you to play harder and longer, increase your stamina, and achieve better results.
Common Sports Injuries Treated by Chiropractic Care
Athletes adhere to an active lifestyle. They put their bodies into motion by playing their sports or working out, which often results in injuries.
With their care, your chiropractors can help prevent damage and treat sports injuries like:
- Bone fractures
- Dislocations
- Joint and muscle sprains and strains
- Knee injuries (e.g., anterior cruciate ligament or ACL tears)
- Achilles tendon injuries
- Shoulder, wrist, and elbow injuries
- Swollen muscles
- Tennis elbows
- Traumatic head injuries (e.g., concussions)
- Muscle pulls
- Shin splints
- Sciatica pain
- Back injuries
An athlete is more susceptible to certain types of injuries depending on the sports they play. In addition, specific health and lifestyle factors like occupation and underlying medical conditions also affect one’s inclination to certain types of injuries. To address this, an athletic chiropractor makes sure that you employ a custom treatment plan based on your specific needs.
Find an Athletic Chiropractor Near You
Improve your performance and rise above injuries with expert sports chiropractic care.
You might ask: “Is there a chiropractor for athletes near me?” Regardless of what your chiropractic demands are, Advanced Chiropractic Group can connect you to the best athletic chiropractors to suit your unique needs. For inquiries and appointments, contact us today!
