Top 5 benefits of Chiropractic Care for sports athletes
Getting you Back on Track
People seek chiropractic care for a number of reasons; headaches, low back pain and poor sleep quality to name a few. However, did you know chiropractic care could assist athletes in achieving a competitive edge? Every athlete should consider seeing a chiropractor to enhance their athletic abilities or possibly assist in the rehabilitation of sporting injuries.
It is for this reason that many top athletes such as Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods and Tom Brady all keep a personal chiropractor on their staff throughout the year. Interestingly, all are known to have longer lasting careers with a substantially smaller number of injuries.
The goal of any chiropractic treatment is to increase mobility of a joint, reduce inflammation and relieve pain. In the treatment of athletes however we see these results and so much more.
Top 5 benefits of chiropractic care for athletes
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Pain relief
Chiropractic treatment is known to provide temporary pain relief for many conditions. During spinal manipulation there is a change of chemicals within the joint, this provides a temporary inhibition of the pain signal to the brain. This small change allows many athletes to return to sport sooner despite having minor injuries that may hinder play or competition.
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Accelerated recovery
It widely understood that chiropractic intervention increases blood flow to the areas of injury. Increased blood flow results in nutrients, oxygen and healing factors to the site of trauma, whilst flushing the area of inflammatory chemicals and damaged old cells. This increase in blood flow also encourages lymphatic drainage which filters out waste products (such as lactic acid) in the blood.
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Decreased chance of Injury
Exercise, repetitive movements and contact sports all can expose your body to traumas, this may present as tight muscles, decreased flexibility and an overall decrease in range of movement. This prolonged tightness and pain causes dysfunction within our joints ability to move. Ultimately, athletes that receive regular chiropractic adjustments experience less injuries and less time off overall and perform better in competition. This is because chiropractic adjustments decrease and relieve tension in the joint, allowing the joint to function the way it was built. Chiropractic care trains your joints in a range of motions that your body may encounter in sport, therefore when you come across such forces, your body is more adaptable and resilient, resulting in markedly less injuries.
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Increased flexibility and mobility
Chiropractic adjustments increase the range of movement in the joint. If one joint is compromised in its ability to function, the whole body will be affected. This increase in range will result in greater mobility followed by an increase in overall flexibility. By returning your joint to proper range, all your muscles attaching to the joints will also be allowed to stretch and extend further than before.
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Stronger, faster, better.
Multiple research studies have shown that spinal manipulation may temporarily increase muscle recruitment and overall muscular contraction. Simply put, chiropractic can increase your ability to lift more, run faster and jump higher, which increases overall performance not only in your chosen sport but across the board.
Finally, although it’s not a direct effect of treatment a large part of what we do at TPM is patient education. Allowing you to understand:
- Why you feel the way you do,
- What that means,
- How you can return to sport sooner,
- And when you can return to training or competition.
We at TPM want to give you the tools to understand when you need to seek care and the knowledge of what is happening to your body as it vital to prevent further injuries in the future and beyond.
If you require any further information, please contact TPM’s Chiropractor Dr. Lachlan on (07) 4740 4516 or via email info@thephysiomovement.com.au.
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