Being active and regularly taking part in sports is great for your body. It’s a way of improving your cardiovascular health, boosting your muscle strength, managing your weight, and even enhancing your mental health. However, the extra stress sports can put on your body means you’re more at risk of injury.
In the best-case scenario, a sports injury can mean that you’ve simply got to take it easy for a couple of weeks until your body heals itself. But if your injury is serious, you could be left with life-long complications and chronic pain which means you can never practice your favorite sport ever again.
One of the best ways of reducing the odds of injuring yourself while taking part in sports is to regularly attend chiropractic sessions. Through massage therapy and specialist adjustments, your body can become more flexible and less prone to injury. Regular chiropractic treatment can also help your body recover faster from future injuries so you can get back to doing what you love.
Most common sports injuries
Here are some of the most common sports injuries that regular chiropractic care can help support. We’ve also included a little extra advice to help you avoid them from happening in the first place.
Strains
A strain is the most common type of sports injury. You have a huge number of tendons and muscles in your body, each of which can easily be overstretched while practicing sport. Although these injuries are small, they can be very painful and take a lot of time to heal.
Most strains occur in the quads, groin, and hamstrings. The best way to avoid them is to thoroughly warm up before and cool down after your sports session.
Repetitive strain injuries
When you repeatedly use a specific joint, such as your wrist or elbow, you can suffer from a repetitive strain injury. This type of damage isn’t just sports-related — it can be caused by any activity that involves a repeated action, such as knitting, typing, or painting.
In sports, repetitive strain injuries are usually caused by repeatedly swinging a tennis racket or a golf club. It’s very difficult to avoid repetitive strain injuries in some sports, but taking regular breaks and changing the way you do the most repetitive activities can lower your risk.
Knee sports injuries
After strains, knee injuries are the most common kind of damage caused by sports. This is largely due to the excess wear and tear that many types of activities place on the knee joint. The most common form of sports-related knee injury is an ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) tear, but cartilage fractions and dislocations are also common. Pay extra attention to your posture and movements while practicing sport so you avoid putting excess pressure on your knee and damaging it.
Sprains
Springs happen when the ligaments in your joints are forced to turn in an unnatural way. This causes them to hyperextend or tear. Sprains often take longer to heal than strains and it can sometimes be necessary to immobilize the part of your body affected to prevent further damage and support the healing process.
You can sprain almost any joint in your body, but your elbows, wrists, knees, and ankles are most commonly affected. Just like strains, the best way to prevent a sprain is to properly warm up and cool down.
Shin splints
You develop a shin split when the tendon in the arch of your foot becomes inflamed. The inflammation results in sharp pains whenever you try to put weight on your foot, making it impossible to properly walk, let alone practice sports.
Shin splints are most commonly experienced by people who play basketball, soccer, or run. Properly stretching the area beforehand and taking regular breaks can reduce the chance of damage and help you avoid serious discomfort.
How chiropractic care can help for sports injuries
Whether you’re a professional athlete or just play sports in your spare time, making regular chiropractic appointments can do wonders for your health. Chiropractors are specialists trained to assess, identify, diagnose, and treat many different issues related to your musculoskeletal system which can be greatly damaged by practicing sports.
By attending regular sessions, your chiropractor can make sure your spine is in the optimal alignment so you can smash your sports goals, avoid minor damage, and heal faster from any injuries you experience.
Chiropractic treatments can be incredibly beneficial for people who regularly practice sports because when your spine is properly aligned, your body’s blood flow increases. This means oxygen- and nutrient-rich blood circulates your body and targets places that need healing.
Get ready to achieve your goals
If you’ve been struggling to be the best you can be or you frequently suffer from sports-related injuries, it may be time to see a chiropractor. Get in touch with us today and discuss your options. Tell us all about the sports you do and how often you practice. A specialist chiropractor will then be able to put together a specialized plan just for you to help improve your performance and avoid injury whenever possible.
About the author
Matt has been helping providers within the healthcare setting for over a decade. He realizes how best to solve a patient’s problem by understanding the individualism of each patient. Therefore knowing what their true needs are. To focus on the patient and the “Why” they need their particular service that goes beyond the initial reason for them to seek treatment.
Matt has been with Veeva since 2018. He also has access to over 75 years of combined real-life hands-on experiences from the many doctors within the Veeva Chiropractic landscape.
