Chiropractic Athletics: Athletes, Sports Injuries, Optimal Performance
Table of Contents
Chiropractic Athletic Importance
Regular chiropractic improves range of motion. Athletes place intense pressure on their bodies when training, weight-lifting, and playing. This can shift the spine out of alignment affecting movement, along with the rest of the body, generating a high probability of injury. Athletes have to deal with soreness, stiffness, and pain from their basic training regiment. An injury can easily compound the soreness into something more severe. Spinal alignment problems can cause the range of motion to be hindered and limited, inhibiting overall ability. Chiropractic athletics undoes the damage. Once a chiropractic regiment is in place injury prevention kicks in, all the while keeping the athlete moving pain-free.Pain Reduction
Anyone especially the strongest athletes can have an episode of back pain, specifically in the low back. A chiropractor promotes proper alignment and movement of the delicate spine. Chiropractors can recommend treatments both professional and self-care that will reduce all types of back pain short and long-term. Research confirms that a manual spine manipulation is an effective form of pain relief.Less Need for Pain Meds
Too often aches and pain are treated with pain meds, cortisone shots, and other drugs that provide short-term relief. Chiropractic is drug-free. This means athletes are not subject to side effects or dependencies that unfortunately arise from prescription med use. Because of the increasing dependency on opioids, the American College of Physicians has updated their guidelines when it comes to low back pain, a very common reason for opioid prescriptions. Now, those with low back pain are encouraged to utilize various complementary and alternative medicine techniques that include chiropractic spinal manipulation before having to use prescription medication.Non-invasive
Chiropractic is non-surgical and can provide relief from injuries throughout the body. It can even serve as an alternative to surgery/s that would keep athletes on the sidelines because of a long recovery period. Treatments include:- Electrical muscle stimulation
- Functional dry needling
- Graston Technique
- Active Release Technique
Athletic Benefits
Whether a neighborhood sports league or advanced competitive league athletes need chiropractic specialists for injury treatment to get them back to play. Kids are now traveling at a younger age meaning more practices and tournaments. Kids are also committing to only one sport early on. This is known as specializing. A study by The American Journal of Sports Medicine found that athletes that specialize too early are subject to continued injury/s.Chiropractic decreases recovery time
Normal wear and tear happens to all of us but can wear down faster especially in an extremely healthy athlete’s body.- A baseball pitcher uses a consistent repetitive throwing motion.
- A volleyball player jumps, constantly hitting and blocking.
- A skateboarder falls repeatedly, sometimes over one-hundred times trying to land a trick.
Injury Repair
Each sport has its own area that is more prone to injury from the stress of the specific sport. According to the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine:- Dancers deal with leg injuries
- Golfers go through shoulder and arm injuries
- Lacrosse players experience knee injuries and muscle strains
Health and Wellness
Athletes have to focus on body awareness, health, diet and optimal function. But they also need to be injury prepared through preventive awareness. Think of it as defensive driving. A chiropractor can assist an athlete with:- Proper diet/nutrition
- Sleep
- Proper training strategies that can become life-long habits
- Body mechanic evaluation
- Gait analysis
A Vital Role
With athletes training year-round and specializing earlier, chiropractic assistance can keep an athlete at a top level of body function. Chiropractic combined with certified athletic trainers can help with muscle development, ligament, and tendon stability. These specialists play a vital role in obtaining and maintaining whole-body wellness.Consider Chiropractic
Chiropractic athletics includes a whole health assessment to ensure there are no underlying issues that could be contributing to an injury, or that could cause future problems. Athletes, consider seeing a chiropractor regularly for those that want to maintain physical strength and range of motion, or if they want to recover from an injury without taking prescription meds and surgery. Sports performance will improve when the body is in alignment and pain-free!Functional Fitness Fellas
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The scope of our information is limited to chiropractic, musculoskeletal, physical medicines, wellness, and sensitive health issues and/or functional medicine articles, topics, and discussions. We use functional health & wellness protocols to treat and support care for injuries or disorders of the musculoskeletal system. Our posts, topics, subjects, and insights cover clinical matters, issues, and topics that relate and support directly or indirectly our clinical scope of practice.* Our office has made a reasonable attempt to provide supportive citations and has identified the relevant research study or studies supporting our posts. We also make copies of supporting research studies available to the board and or the public upon request. We understand that we cover matters that require an additional explanation as to how it may assist in a particular care plan or treatment protocol; therefore, to further discuss the subject matter above, please feel free to ask Dr. Alex Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900. The provider(s) Licensed in Texas& New Mexico*Post Disclaimer
Professional Scope of Practice *
The information herein on "Chiropractic Athletics: Athletes, Sports Injuries, Optimal Performance" is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional or licensed physician and is not medical advice. We encourage you to make healthcare decisions based on your research and partnership with a qualified healthcare professional.
Blog Information & Scope Discussions
Our information scope is limited to Chiropractic, musculoskeletal, physical medicines, wellness, contributing etiological viscerosomatic disturbances within clinical presentations, associated somatovisceral reflex clinical dynamics, subluxation complexes, sensitive health issues, and/or functional medicine articles, topics, and discussions.
We provide and present clinical collaboration with specialists from various disciplines. Each specialist is governed by their professional scope of practice and their jurisdiction of licensure. We use functional health & wellness protocols to treat and support care for the injuries or disorders of the musculoskeletal system.
Our videos, posts, topics, subjects, and insights cover clinical matters, issues, and topics that relate to and directly or indirectly support our clinical scope of practice.*
Our office has reasonably attempted to provide supportive citations and has identified the relevant research study or studies supporting our posts. We provide copies of supporting research studies available to regulatory boards and the public upon request.
We understand that we cover matters that require an additional explanation of how it may assist in a particular care plan or treatment protocol; therefore, to further discuss the subject matter above, please feel free to ask Dr. Alex Jimenez, DC, or contact us at 915-850-0900.
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Dr. Alex Jimenez DC, MSACP, RN*, CCST, IFMCP*, CIFM*, ATN*
email: coach@elpasofunctionalmedicine.com
Licensed as a Doctor of Chiropractic (DC) in Texas & New Mexico*
Texas DC License # TX5807, New Mexico DC License # NM-DC2182
Licensed as a Registered Nurse (RN*) in Florida
Florida License RN License # RN9617241 (Control No. 3558029)
License Compact Status: Multi-State License: Authorized to Practice in 40 States*
Presently Matriculated: ICHS: MSN* FNP (Family Nurse Practitioner Program)
Dr. Alex Jimenez DC, MSACP, RN* CIFM*, IFMCP*, ATN*, CCST
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