Chiropractor for Sports Injuries: Injury Prevention, Recovery and Performance
Many athletes, both recreational and professional, turn to chiropractic care to help recover from injuries and optimize their physical health and performance. Rooted in evidence-based practices focusing on movement sciences, chiropractors aim to restore and enhance an athlete’s physical health and function helping them achieve goals both within and outside their sports.
Having someone such as a chiropractor who is dedicated to improving not only an athlete's ability to perform but their overall health and quality of life beyond sport can be a valuable asset.
In this blog, we’ll explore exactly how chiropractors can be an essential part of every athlete's recovery and longevity. So if you’re an athlete or someone recovering from a sports injury this article is for you!
How Chiropractors Address Sports Injuries
A common misconception is that chiropractors only treat the spine and that they only rely on adjustments to help with pain and injuries. This simply is not the case as chiropractors treat a wide variety of conditions and injuries including injuries occurring from sports.
Chiropractors working with athletes will adopt a whole-body treatment approach that prioritizes injury recovery but also takes into consideration injury prevention and performance.
Much of the treatment we receive in healthcare is reactive, we only intervene when there are symptoms or problems. In the world of injury management, we only begin treatment after an injury occurs, whether it be an ankle sprain, ACL tear or rotator cuff injury.
Any athlete will know this is not a useful strategy for sports performance. Because of training demands athletes constantly experience small nagging aches and pains that can make training and competing difficult. This is why a proactive approach is necessary to not only prevent more serious injuries from occurring but also to help athletes with their training demands.
A chiropractor can be a helpful resource to help athletes maintain mobility, strength and overall function so they can continue to train and compete without the limitations of injury. For athletes recovering from injury, chiropractors act as a guide helping to regain lost range of motion, strength and motor control so they can perform in their sport.
Common Sports Injuries Treated by Chiropractors
ACL tears
Ankle sprains
Meniscus tears
Plantar fasciitis
Back & neck pain
Bone fractures
Ligament sprains
Headaches
Rotator cuff tears/strains
Tennis/golfer’s elbow
Wrist sprains
And more!
Effective Treatments for Sports-Related Injuries
The best approach to treating sports injuries starts with a comprehensive physical assessment. This is where your chiropractor will observe your functional movement patterns like walking, running, jumping, squatting, lunging and balance before moving onto a joint-by-joint and isolated muscle testing assessment.
Basically, what your chiropractor is trying to do at this stage is identify exactly what the problem is and observe any faulty movement patterns that may have contributed to the injury and that may hinder performance.
They’ll also look for any compensations in other joints, muscles and movement patterns as a result of the injury. Once the chiropractor has a clear picture of the problem they’ll know exactly where to start to begin your recovery.
Another important aspect for the treatment of sports injuries is that your rehab is sport-specific. From day one in the clinic, your chiropractor will implement a sports-specific treatment plan tailored to the needs of not only your sport but also to the demands of your specific position and training.
Do Chiropractors Treat Soft Tissue Injuries?
The quick answer is yes, chiropractors can most certainly treat soft tissue injuries. Everything from your minor muscle pull or strain to fully torn muscles that require surgery seen in injuries such as quadricep or achilles tears.
Chiropractors use a variety of hands-on techniques such as joint mobilizations, massage, IASTM (instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization), cupping and acupuncture. The ultimate goal with these techniques is to improve blood flow to the muscle, decrease tightness and reduce pain.
Chiropractic treatment of soft tissue injuries should always be paired with functional exercise to correct faulty movement patterns and sport-specific training to help the athlete return to sport.
Addressing Muscle Weakness with Chiropractic Care
Chiropractors are experts in assessing and diagnosing problems related to muscles and aim to restore movement and overall function by addressing weaknesses and imbalances.
These weaknesses and imbalances are addressed through corrective exercise and sports-specific training.
Your chiropractor at Elevate Rehabilitation will develop and guide you through your recovery and optimize your movement, strength and stability.
But before building muscle strength, your chiropractor will ensure you have the necessary range of motion. Joint restrictions or muscle tightness can limit the movement options available for athletes which often leads to compensations and poor movement patterns which increases the risk for injury.
Once range of motion is restored, your chiropractor will strengthen muscles in that newly created mobility and eventually expose the muscles and joints to sport-specific movements.
When to Seek Chiropractic Care
If you are an athlete or weekend warrior looking to improve your health and quality of life or are currently recovering from an injury chiropractic may be your best solution.
Whether you’re experiencing an acute injury or suffering from a nagging issue that has been more persistent, our team at Elevate Rehabilitation and Performance in Oakville will work with you to optimize your physical health and performance.
Questions about Sports Injuries?
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