We’re all familiar with chiropractors treating issues related to the neck and back. While this is indeed a large part of what chiropractors do, they also help athletes treat damage from sudden injuries or prolonged activity playing a sport.
Here are some examples of what type of sports injuries are treated by a chiropractor.
What Can a Sports Medicine Chiropractor Do?
If you’re an athlete, you certainly understand the harsh physical demands on your body required to play your chosen sport. Not only can a sports medicine chiropractor help treat a chiropractic sports injury, but they can also help to prevent them from happening. The goal is long-term improvement and healing, no matter your condition.
Why Choose a Chiropractor?
While other medical experts serve as great assets for athletes and others, sports chiropractors specialize in the parts of the body affected most by being an athlete. Chiropractic sports medicine is often used to both improve performance, heal injuries, and prevent damage. They specialize in injuries involving the ankle, knee, shoulder, back, and neck, which can be commonly injured or damaged while playing sports.
They also work to improve the adjustment of the spine, which lines up and balances your bones. This achieves tension relief in the body, allowing it to be less susceptible to injury in the first place.
Unfortunately, sometimes an injury is inevitable. If you’ve ever played sports, you’ll know that being injured isn’t just physically painful but frustrating since you will need time and treatment before you can get back into practice. However, you will heal faster when you work with a professional chiropractor. The chiropractors will give you plenty of guidance toward fast healing, which may include stretches you do as you ease back into training.
What Conditions Can a Sport Injury Chiropractors Treat?
Dislocations
Dislocation is when the bones forming a joint become separated. It usually occurs when athletes play high-impact contact sports. When it comes to chiropractor sports injuries, dislocation can be one of the most painful. Sharp, intense pain is common, and it can often take a significant amount of time to heal properly.
When a dislocation happens, it isn’t just the joints that are damaged. Nerves surrounding the area also have the potential to be damaged, so immediate treatment is best. Typically, this healing process could take several weeks, depending on the severity, location, and any history of injury in the same area.
Sports injury chiropractors will use both long-term and immediate strategies to optimize healing. For example, a dislocated joint may be put back into place, but repairing the ligaments in that area is essential for complete healing and takes time.
Shin Splints
Sports injury chiropractors see a lot of shin splints over their careers, especially from runners. Simply, these occur when there is pain along the shin bone or tibia. Those who work in the chiropractor and sports medicine field advise against certain behaviors to keep the likelihood of getting shin splints low, including:
- Not warming up or stretching before running
- Running or practicing too often without proper rest
- Running on hard surfaces
- Wearing shoes that aren’t supportive enough
Achilles Tendon Injuries
When it comes to sports injuries, chiropractic sports doctors also often treat injuries to the Achilles tendon. This tendon runs from the heel to the calf muscle can be torn or stretched. Much like with shin splints, this often happens due to overuse or neglecting to stretch.
While shin splints are painful, they aren’t quite as serious as a tear to your Achilles tendon. Sports chiropractors say this injury could potentially be season-ending, leading to long-term treatment by a sports medicine chiropractor.
Swollen Muscles
If exposed to repeated injuries or long-term overuse, it’s common for muscles to swell and form a hard membrane called a fascia. Unfortunately, this doesn’t leave any room for these muscles to swell further, painfully constricting them inside the body. Chiropractic sports medicine experts often call this compartment syndrome.
Not only is this extremely painful, but both blood vessels and nerves in those areas are put under intense pressure. This could cause harm to the muscle itself, making it weaker and permanently damaged in some cases.
Knee Injuries
Knee injuries are another very common chiropractor injury and can potentially cause lifelong complications for athletes. For example, runner’s knee is a common condition amongst runners, resulting in pain around the knee cap or even tendinitis.
In terms of more serious chiropractor sports injuries, damage to the knee could also potentially cause the bone to bruise or ligaments and cartilage to deteriorate. In addition, all four ligaments that support the knee can potentially become damaged while playing sports.
Like many others on this list, chiropractors and sports medicine experts agree that failure to warm up properly and overuse as the main causes of injuries to the knee.
Strains and Sprains
When ligaments become too stretched and tear, this results in a sprain. These ligaments connect your bones, so sprains exclusively happen in the joints. Most commonly, this chiropractic sports injury occurs in the wrist or ankle.
Strains, on the other hand, happen when a tendon or muscle is torn. Tendons connect bones to muscles, and when these are stretched too far, you experience a strain. Chiropractic sport medicine experts site strains in the hamstrings or back as the most common.
Both sprains and strains result in painful swelling and the inability to move the injured area for a certain amount of time.
Conclusion
You really can’t go wrong with seeing a chiropractor to treat or prevent a sports injury. Pushing through the pain to continue playing the sport you love may seem tempting, but doing so could potentially cause irreversible harm to your body.
Chiropractors specialize in the exact type of healing your body needs after an injury. You can even take advantage of specialized sports massages, which promote healthy blood flow and warm up your muscles.
No matter if you’re suffering from one of the injuries mentioned above or just want to keep yourself in the best shape possible and are in the Sacramento, CA, area, scheduling an appointment with a trusted sports chiropractor, is a great idea for any athlete.
