Regular Chiropractic care may help people who have been injured during physical activity – whether it’s a chronic issue, an overuse type of injury or an acute injury. This is because Chiropractic adjustments may help reduce inflammation, get movement back into the spine and affected joints, as well as assist with rehabilitation to greatly reduce the risk of re-injury.
Common sporting injuries seen in practice
Some of the most common sporting injuries we see in practice include:
Hamstring tears/overload
Ankle sprains
ACL/other knee injuries
Shoulder dislocation/injuries
Collision/whiplash/concussion
What happens during your first Chiropractic visit?
Quite often, people will come and see a Chiropractor AFTER one of the above listed injuries has occurred. If you have never been to a Chiropractor before, what happens in practice is that the Chiropractor will try and determine what has happened and what injury you have sustained by doing a series of tests. Depending on the case, the Chiropractor may also refer you to get some scans done.
Once the Chiropractor has determined the type of injury you have, they will then develop a plan to help you on way to recovery – this may include adjustments, advice and exercises.
What happens if you were already seeing a Chiropractor?
If you have seen, or were seeing a Chiropractor already and you have suddenly been injured during sport, then your care plan might change temporarily according to your injury.
As most of the injuries I listed above are very different, there is no ‘one plan fits all’. This is why it’s important to go through the necessary testing.
Chronic and overuse type sporting injuries
Chronic and overuse type injuries like tendonitis, bursitis, muscle tears and rotator cuff issues (among others) can take longer to get on top of. This is mostly because they are injuries that have been around for a long time. With chronic and overuse type injuries, your body has fallen into a bad pattern and over time it has compensated for the injury, which will most likely result in more damage to that area of the body and other parts of the body closely related to the site of the injury – for example, a chronic hip injury can lead to a hip and knee injury over time.
Acute sporting injuries
Acute injuries like concussion, dislocation and ligament/meniscal tears that commonly occur after a forceful impact or sudden trauma will require an entirely different approach. Depending on the severity, the injury can take a couple of weeks to resolve. It is important for Chiropractors to locate the problem, provide a comprehensive list of dos and don’ts to assist in recovery, as well as perform the correct adjustments, not only to the site of the injury, but to other areas of the body that may be working harder due to the injury. For example, when you have a knee injury, you can put more pressure through the opposite hip and knee, causing overuse issues on the opposite side of the original injury.
Chiropractic care post injury and during the sports season
Chiropractic care supports you through injury, but what most people tend to forget is what happens after they are feeling better. Chiropractic adjustments don’t just help you in a crisis, they may help overall performance. This is why Chiropractors may recommend coming in during your sporting season to keep your body in tune and working to the best of its ability.
Some other things that Chiropractic adjustments may help with include:
Increased mobility and flexibility
Improved balance and co-ordination
Increased strength
Increased reaction time and focus
Decreased recovery time
Improved sleep (which is important for recovery of both muscles and body)
Overall increased performance
All of these things combined may not only help reduce the risk of injury, but it may help keep your body in peak condition to be able to perform at you best on the field (or wherever you play sport).
Who wouldn’t want that?
Overall, active individuals and athletes may benefit from Chiropractic care during and post injury. As discussed above, the results that may be achieved may really make a difference to your performance.
Blog post written by Dr. Romina Troiani (Chiropractor)
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