If you’ve played sports, chances are at some point in time you’ve been injured. It doesn’t matter whether you play soccer, basketball, tennis—or any other sport for that matter. We all get injured at some point. Acupuncture has proven its usefulness in treating sports injuries. Here’s how.
What Are Common Sports Injuries?
Sports injuries are a common occurrence in athletes. Even though they are usually minor, sports injuries can still make it difficult for you to continue playing your favourite sport. It is important to treat sports injuries right away so that they do not become more serious.
Some of the most common sports injuries include:
Traumatic head injuries (such as concussions): Traumatic head injuries are one of the most common types of sports-related injuries. Traumatic head injuries usually occur when an athlete falls on the field, receives a direct blow to the head, or suffers whiplash during play. Common traumatic head injuries include concussions, contusions (bruising), lacerations (cuts), or abrasions (scrapes). These types of head injuries often result in headaches and dizziness that may last for days or weeks after the initial injury occurred. The severity of these symptoms depends on the nature and severity of the injury itself as well as how long it takes for a person to receive proper medical treatment after suffering an injury.
Tennis elbow: Tennis elbow is an inflammation in the tendons that control your wrist movement when you swing a racquet. It’s called tennis elbow because it’s most common among tennis players, but anyone who does repetitive gripping motions with their hands can get it.
Fractures: A fracture is a break in a bone caused by injury or stress on the bone. Fractures may be caused by direct impact or indirect force such as twisting or bending the bone too far. The severity of the fracture will depend on how much force was applied, how long it took place, and where it occurred on the bone.
Strains and sprains: Strains are injuries to ligaments, which connect bones together at joints. Sprains are similar but involve tendons instead of ligaments. Both strains and sprains can happen when you overextend a joint or muscle during physical activity such as running or weightlifting. The result is pain in the area where your ligament or tendon was injured along with swelling and bruising.
Tendonitis: Tendons attach muscles to bones, so when there’s friction between them (due to repetitive stress), they become inflamed and painful—which is called tendonitis. Tendonitis can also be caused by stress fractures in bone or cartilage damage around joints such as knees or shoulders.
Plantar fasciitis: Plantar fasciitis is one of the most common types of running-related pain. It causes inflammation of the plantar fascia (the thick band of tissue that runs across the bottom of your foot). This can be extremely painful and lead to serious complications if it’s not treated properly.
Rotator cuff injuries: Rotator cuff injuries are common among athletes who perform overhead motions such as throwing and swimming. A rotator cuff is a group of four muscles that stabilize the shoulder joint and helps rotate your arm outwardly while keeping your elbow close to your body. When these muscles become strained or torn, they become inflamed and painful.
Dislocations: A dislocation occurs when a joint becomes unhinged from its normal position. This can happen when an athlete falls on his or her hand or elbow, causing the bones to separate and come out of alignment with each other.
How Does Acupuncture Benefit Sports Injuries?
Acupuncture is an ancient Chinese medicine technique that has been used for pain relief and to treat many different types of illnesses and injuries. In fact, acupuncture has been used as an alternative treatment for sports injuries for thousands of years.
With so many different techniques available today, acupuncture has become one of the most popular alternative treatments available. Many people swear by it and say it helped them recover from their sports injury.
Here’s how acupuncture treats sports injuries:
Acupuncture can help with chronic pain and injuries in several ways. First, it stimulates the release of certain hormones and chemicals in your body that can help relieve pain. Second, it increases blood flow to the injured area, which helps speed up healing time by improving circulation and reducing swelling. And third, acupuncture stimulates your nervous system to relax muscles and reduce inflammation around any joints or tendons that are strained or torn from overuse or injury.
Looking for an effective, natural treatment for your sports injury? Acupuncture can help relieve pain, reduce swelling and inflammation, improve range of motion, increase blood circulation, and restore normal function after an injury or surgery. It also helps athletes recover faster from exertion or fatigue by releasing endorphins (natural painkillers) in the brain and increasing oxygen flow to muscles.
Why suffer in pain if you don’t have to? If you have a sports injury, reach out to My Rest for your acupuncture treatment today!