Chiropractic Care For Sports Injuries And Extremity Injuries

Professional athletes like Usain Bolt, Tom Brady and Michael Jordan have long sung the praises of their chiropractic care taking them to the next level of sports performance and helping them heal from sports injuries. But you don’t have to be an Olympian to reap the same benefits. From a proactive, preventative standpoint, chiropractic care can help increase performance via the nervous system. Benefits shown in research include better mobility in the spine and extremities, quicker reaction time, and better proprioception (body awareness).

However, chiropractic care can also be essential to the healing of a sports injury. Here are some of the common injuries seen by chiropractors:

Sprains and Strains

Sprains are sustained when a ligament (tissue connecting bones) stretches excessively or tears. ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) injuries are often seen with a rotational compressive trauma to the knee, often requiring surgery. Strains are a tear in a muscle or tendon (tissue connecting muscle to bone). The rear part of the ankle is the site of the tough, strong Achilles Tendon. Injuries to this tendon can be debilitating and take months to heal.

Sprains and strains are common among runners, footballers, and rugby players. Both of these injuries can take weeks to months to heal due to the nature of the tissues involved. Ligaments are not as well-vascularized as muscles, so they can take longer to heal. A muscle injury can take 4-6 weeks to heal and a joint injury 3-6 months.

Chiropractic adjustments can have an anti-inflammatory effect on the entire body, which is essential to long-term healing for sports injuries. While inflammation plays a pivotal role in the immediate stabilization of an injured area, chronic inflammation can lead to a host of secondary problems if not addressed properly early on. In addition to rehabilitating these sites of injury with exercises and stretches, neurological changes can happen post-injury, necessitating care for the nervous system to promote optimal communication from the central nervous system out through the peripheral nerves into these joints and surrounding tissues.

Meniscus and Knee Injuries

Cartilaginous structures like the meniscus can be torn during rotational and/or compressive traumas. Meniscus can also become worn down from chronic postural or gait asymmetries. Very little blood-flow gets into the meniscus, leaving it susceptible to slow or impaired repair.

Chiropractic care for sports injuries addressing postural imbalances and structural changes to the spine and pelvis can help guide the body back into a more balanced position, reducing the asymmetrical wear side-to-side. Extremity adjustments to the knee joint can improve range of motion, reduce inflammation, and decrease pain.

Frozen Shoulder

Frozen shoulder is the reduction or loss of range of motion in the shoulder due to inflammation of the shoulder capsule. While this condition can self-resolve over time - sometimes up to a few years - chiropractic care has helped increase healing time significantly, allowing people to return to normal activity quickly.

These and other injuries, ranging from tennis elbow to shin splints, can heal faster and better with a proactive approach. Optimizing nervous system function through chiropractic care is an excellent approach.

At Atlas, our holistic approach goes beyond symptom-focused care to optimize your entire body for healing. Using a synergistic combination of gentle chiropractic adjustments and implementation of healthy lifestyle habits, our chiropractors create bespoke treatment plans for each client to effectively create health from your sports injury or extremity injury onward.

Book An Appointment

Begin your journey of optimal physical and mental wellness with Atlas today. If you are ready to book your session with us, call +852 2110 3901 to get your health on track!