If you are an athlete or just love playing sport, you know how physically demanding it can be on the body – running, jumping, twisting and tackling- isn’t easy. Putting your body through these tasks can sometimes be detrimental resulting in painful tears, sprains, strains and overuse. Seeing a chiropractor can help you recover from these injuries as well as assist in preventing further injury or re-injury to the area!
The main reasons why athletes often suffer injuries include forceful impacts, repetitive motions, over training and failure to warm up properly. Often when a muscle or joint is injured, the body naturally compensates, attempting to maintain balance and protect itself by tightening other muscles and joints.
Decreased mobility is one of the key areas of concerns when it comes to sporting injuries. When we have less mobility in one area, other areas of our body start to compensate and this can lead to impingements, tendonitis and instability (1). Secondly, research has shown us that a dysfunction in the spine, particularly the neck, disrupts the brains ability to sense what is going on accurately in the rest of the body (1). The body’s feedback system is made up of nerves and ligaments around a joint which can sense stretch and tension passing this information to the brain, signally the muscles to relax or contract to produce the desired movement (1). Having a functioning body feedback system enables you to perform at your best and less likely to reinjure or have decreased coordination while you’re playing sport. Finally there is evidence to suggest that the brain changes the way it controls your muscles depending on the function of your spine, helping with the strength you need when playing sport (1)!
Chiropractic adjustments and mobilisations help with alignment of the spine and pelvis, making movement easier and decreasing the chance of injury or re-injury. Chiropractic care can play a role in preventing injuries by improving proprioception and increasing accuracy of the brains control over muscles. As chiropractors, we focus on influencing the bodies function by structural corrections and having musculoskeletal systems as stable, strong and biomechanically prepared for sport and competition.
If you’re experiencing pain from a sports injury, consider seeing a chiropractor. You may want to schedule regular check-ups to prevent injuries from occurring and to keep your body performing properly.
At Simply Health and Wellness, we use a multimodal approach to caring for any sporting injuries including soft tissue work, stretching, rehabilitation, mobilisations and adjustments to improve function and wellbeing.
- Haavik H. The Reality Check. 2014