An athlete’s routine (especially a pro-athlete) is anything but normal or average. Apart from the rigorous practice sessions, athletes often have to undergo extreme training, which can induce aches and pain. Sadly, they cannot always rely on painkillers. To reduce pain and improve health, athletes and people in sports often rely on a sports chiropractor. In this post, we will explain the benefits of chiropractors for sports injuries.
Dealing with Asymmetry
A lot of sports injuries can be the result of body asymmetry and abnormal biomechanics. Chiropractors can help in fixing these. For example, they will perform an x-ray called a bone length study to make sure the legs are the same length. This is considered the gold standard in the literature dating back to 1924. Also, performing a laser scan of their feet (accurate to within 300 microns) to make sure their feet are properly supporting them. If not, they are fitted with custom made orthotics. Why, you might ask, is any of this important? Since the athlete is on their feet all the time, it only makes since that if the legs are unequal this puts undo stress on the body, including the ankles, knees, hips and low back. Guess what some common sports injuries are? Orthotics are important for this same reason and also because they help with shock absorption and attenuation since athletes are always standing, running and jumping. When you look for a Downtown Austin sports injury rehab clinic, make sureyou ask questions about this.
Faster Healing
If the body is dealing with an injury already, it is important to accelerate the healing process, because athletes cannot really afford to wait too long. To promote faster and better healing, chiropractors are more than important. They expedite the recovery process, by working on the muscles, tendons, ligaments, bone structure, etc involved. As needed, they may even suggest other therapies too. For example, Dwight Freeney who is currently a defensive end for the Atlanta Falcons used ARPWave to recover in record time from a serious injury some years ago. Jay Cutler, Chicago Bears quarterback suffered a serious, but non-surgical, groin injury that everyone, including the team doctors and head coach thought was going to keep him off the field and not playing for about 6 weeks. Thanks to ARPWave, Jay Cutler was back in less than half that time. Or look at Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings. He tore his ACL and was back in record time after his surgery thanks to ARPWave.
Improving Motions
Usually, sports injuries reduce the range of motion and flexibility for the athlete, which can impact his performance even after injury recovery. Even a little misalignment of the spine can seem like a major issue, which can affect one’s flexibility. Improving or correcting these misalignments with chiropractic adjustments, or using cold laser for certain injuries can improve your flexibility.
If you are new to Austin and have a nagging sports injury, chiroFX is happy to help! We are available for free consultations to help you better understand your injury and how we can help you meet your treatment goals.