As a Chiropractor I see many different types of injuries in my practice. Auto accidents are one of the biggest causes of a trip to my office but not far behind would have to be sports related injuries. People love playing sports of all kinds and frankly I encourage it but it definitely can take its toll on the human body and cause a lot of soreness, discomfort and pain.
Warm up to avoid injury
Before we go on let me just say the most important thing that you can do to avoid sports injuries; warm up and stretch before exercising. If there’s one mistake that many people make it’s that they don’t warm up and stretch before starting any exercise or game. Warming up before playing, even for 10 minutes, is the best preventative measure that you can take to avoid injury. Now on to a few of the frequent conditions I see.
Muscle pulls are one of the most common types of injuries to athletes and can occur in just about any muscle of the body (and there are over 600 of them). Overuse, fatigue, over-exercising and falls, can cause muscle pulls. A muscle pull occurs when a muscle is stretched beyond its normal capacity and some (but not all) of the fibers tear. If you have a muscle pull, massage and laser therapy can help relieve the pain and swelling as well as chiropractic adjustments to help the nervous system.
Neck pain is a common sports related injury and can be caused by a variety of things including; being hit on the football field, turning frequently and rapidly to look around while playing and overuse of the neck muscles. Chiropractors are specialists when it comes to neck pain and a Chiropractic adjustment (or a series of them) is usually a great remedy for neck pain. Spinal decompression is a great treatment if there is an underlying problem with the discs of the cervical spine.
Many athletes suffer from occasional low back pain and strain and for some people this type of pain can become chronic. Many different types of sports can cause low back sprains, from martial arts to squash to running and lifting weights. Sudden overloading or overstraining of the low back muscles can cause low back pain as well as spinal misalignments and disc problems.
The best remedy for acute low back pain is usually a day or 2 of rest, chiropractic adjustments and ice packs to bring down inflammation and swelling. In the case of a bulging or herniated disc the athlete would be best helped by spinal decompression therapy, a newer treatment that targets the the discs and has a very high success rate.. If you’re a golfer or tennis player disc problems can be a fact of life and need to be taken seriously to prevent further damage to the discs and the delicate spinal nerves.
Shoulder problems and pain are a constant reminder that the shoulder is a very unique combination of bones, ligaments and muscles that can easily become misaligned when under stress. The ‘rotator cuff muscles’ as they’re known as a group are the supraspinatus, subscapularis, infraspinatus, and teres minor muscles. When they’re working perfectly together they allow a quarterback to throw a football with pinpoint accuracy, a tennis player to serve aces all day long and a baseball pitcher to throw strike after strike.
Rehab helps tired and overused muscles and joints
The dilemma is that, with overuse, like you find when playing many sports, the muscles can be overstretched, causing pain in the shoulders, arms, elbows and wrists. This can cause the tendons of the shoulder to become inflamed and painful every time a movement is made. Our physical rehabilitation clinic is particularly effective at treating these kinds of problems. We also offer a series of non-steroidal injections that can help bring down the pain and swelling fast.
Tennis elbow and golf elbow are a common problem among not just tennis and golf players, but among anyone who enjoys a sport that involves the use of the elbow. This includes sports like martial arts, boxing and weightlifting. With this common problem the arm muscles and ligaments that attach to the elbow become inflamed and painful from overuse. These problems can become chronic if not taken care of within the first few days of the occurrence. Laser therapy, adjustments and time are best to help this overuse injury.
No matter the injury, no matter your sport, maintaining your spine and receiving proper care for sports injuries is a vitally important part of your sports and health routine. The fact is that, whatever sport you enjoy, if your spine is properly aligned and your nervous system is working well, you’ll be better able to perform. You’ll have more energy, react sooner and heal faster. If you love your sport, we’ll help you play it better.
If you’d like to learn more ways our Garland chiropractic and rehabilitation clinic can help you perform your best, give us a call. As a fully integrated rehabilitation facility, we offer the services of a M.D., chiropractor, nurse practitioner, rehab therapy tech, and massage therapist. We can also help with sports nutrition!