Chiropractic care has been practiced since the late 1800s but was not adopted by the United States Olympic medical team in 1980.
When we talked to the team at FitMax Store, they said that sports and spine chiropractor is now an integral part of any medical team. This is no surprise because chiropractic care for athletes focuses on the athlete’s musculoskeletal system, that is, the muscles and nerves that connect to bone structures throughout the body.
With all that said, does this holistic kind of healthcare have any tangible benefit to athletes? Keep reading if you’re curious to learn more about this, as below is a look at the five benefits of chiropractic care for athletes.
1. Helps Prevent Injuries
As an athlete, you’re at a higher risk of getting an injury because of the training and physical activity. And when an injury occurs, it can lead to decreased performance and increased recovery time. However, the last thing you want is any alignment problems and injuries. Otherwise, you risk placing further stress on your body and worsening your injuries.
But receiving chiropractic care helps you prevent injuries from occurring. And because prevention is better than cure, it’s advised to go to a certified chiropractor routinely. This professional will inspect your musculoskeletal system and ensure proper spine alignment. Doing all this allows them to provide rehabilitative treatments before you get injured. This helps to prevent further damage even as you continue your exercise routine and don’t experience any problems in the future.
Other strategies chiropractors use to prevent future injuries include guiding you on exercise routines that strengthen muscles and promote joint health. They also offer you targeted chiropractic care that helps boost your body’s resistance, flexibility, and strength. This helps to lower the risk of common issues such as shoulder, back, and neck pain.
2. Helps Mitigate Pain
If you’re an athlete, you’ll often experience back pain due to heavy lifting or overuse during training. This can cause serious problems when it comes to your performance in sports because it affects your mobility and overall balance.
You can mitigate pain from your intense exercise routines and schedules by getting chiropractic care. A chiropractor does this by restoring the misaligned spines to ensure optimal nervous system flow. Spinal manipulation is also much more effective at relieving pain than conventional pain medication. This makes it the perfect way to address the pain you might be experiencing due to your intense workout routine.
3. Faster Recovery Time
Besides relieving pain and improving your overall health, chiropractic care can help prevent future injury-prone conditions from developing. A chiropractor ensures that all the soft tissue and bone strips are in the right position. As a result, this allows your body to work naturally and correctly and promotes faster recovery. Some of the techniques the chiropractor uses to promote faster recovery include:
- Use of stainless steel tools to break down the scar tissue.
- Stretching and massage together with range-of-motion movement.
- Releasing tension close to the surface through electrical muscle stimulation.
- Releasing deep muscle tension through functional dry needling.
All these practices help you to recover faster from your injuries which is vital to remain strong, flexible, and healthy. It’s easy to see why chiropractors today are an integral part of any sports team so that they can offer their specialized medical services.
4. Improve Range of Motion
Injuries affect your body’s overall function. The different workouts athletes perform usually place a lot of pressure on their bodies. As a result, this brings about issues such as spinal movement and alignment. When this happens, the joints become stiff and start experiencing intense pain resulting in reduced mobility. And because all other body parts are interconnected, this leads to a decrease in your overall performance.
Chiropractic adjustments can help alleviate the problem of reduced range of motion. This is achieved through spinal alignment, which helps reduce any stiffness in the joints. With an improved range of motion, you’ll realize a considerable improvement in your athletic performance. This is because you’re no longer limited by joint pain and stiffness.
5. Chiropractic Care Is A Non-Invasive Treatment Option
The idea of surgery or other invasive treatment options sends shivers down the spine of any athlete. But with chiropractic care, this isn’t a concern you should have. This is because chiropractic care doesn’t entail using instruments to help relieve any pain you might be experiencing. And because you don’t undergo any surgery, you won’t spend a prolonged period on the sidelines.
Chiropractors use non-invasive treatment techniques to help mitigate any issue you might have. These treatment methods include acupuncture, electrical muscle stimulation, and chiropractic adjustments. Through this, you’ll get much-needed relief from a sports injury you might be having.
