Understanding Chiropractic Care for Sports Injuries
What Is Chiropractic Care?
Chiropractic care (also known as adjustments or joint manipulation) is a hands-on skill learned by Doctors of Chiropractic over years of schooling with the goal of restoring full, unrestricted motion in joint segments, also referred to as joint blockage. While adjustments are a very important part of chiropractic care they should only be a small part of what a chiropractor does to help you.
After a comprehensive joint and movement assessment, our doctors determine where the restricted motion is occurring, how the lack of motion is affecting your performance in your favorite sport, then look to restore that motion through joint manipulation.
Our Chiropractors at KinetikChain have a very strong background in adjustments, soft tissue therapy and rehabilitative exercise which when used in combination offer an effective solution to many sports injuries.
How Chiropractic Helps with Injury Recovery
The use of Chiropractic care focuses on improving joint mobility and restoring proper function to the musculoskeletal system (joints and muscles) to help you move more fluidly and with less pain.
When proper motion and function has been restored, patients often notice a reduction in pain, inflammation and improved tolerance of their daily and recreational activities.
The use of joint manipulation, soft tissue therapy and rehabilitative exercise are meant to address the root cause of pain by improving your function, not just your symptoms.
Common Sports Injuries and How Chiropractic Helps
Back Pain
Often our favorite activities ask us to push our bodies to the limit with occasional aches/pains to follow when we push it too far. Our body creates functional adaptations to our training which can create muscle imbalances and/or joint restriction causing or exacerbating joint pain in athletes.
We frequently see these imbalances and restrictions occur in the spine (low back, mid back and neck) with the force transferring back and forth from our legs and arms during sport. Chiropractic adjustments can reverse these issues, relieve pain, and improve function.
Joint Injuries (Knees, Shoulders, Ankles)
When we stress our joints in our favorite hobbies it often occurs in a single plane of motion or in a repetitive nature which can result in restriction and pain.
There is a spectrum of velocity (speed) and amplitude (force) which chiropractic care can be applied from low force and low amplitude (often called mobilization) up to high velocity and low amplitude (often referred to as adjustments/manipulations).
The use of joint manipulation and mobilization to restore range of motion and reduce pain.
Muscle Strains and Soft Tissue Injuries
Frequently the tissues that we overload during sport are our muscles, tendons and ligaments which can be affected by a number of different therapies.
Our doctors utilize soft tissue work in the office (e.g., Active Release Technique, Graston, massage therapy, and others) to help accelerate muscle recovery by improving blood flow, range of motion and decreasing inhibitory stiffness.
How Chiropractic Enhances Sports Performance
Improved Mobility and Flexibility
Chiropractic care helps reduce pain and restore proper range of motion at the joints which can allow for greater ease of movement and improved flexibility in the surrounding muscles.
Chiropractic care helps to restore optimal ranges of motion at key joints in the body (neck, mid back, shoulders, hips, etc), which is crucial for athletes to avoid compensations and perform at their highest level.
Better Posture and Alignment
Often pain and limits in mobility make our patients move less efficiently which can increase their potential for injury or overuse traumas.
By optimizing mobility and flexibility, chiropractic patients are often able to maintain good posture and form through their leisure time and sport which can help limit the stress on the musculoskeletal system.
Our office works on coaching and teaching the mechanics of each athlete’s sport to help optimize their movement efficiency.
Faster Recovery Times
Early management of mobility limitations, aches and pain, as well as injuries with a trained professional can help accelerate the time needed to fully recover.
Getting an accurate picture on what activities are beneficial vs. deleterious during your recovery can ensure your effort and time is going to the right areas.
Decreasing pain, increasing blood flow, decreasing inhibition/weakness, increasing joint mobility and increasing muscle strength give you a key advantage in returning to sport faster.
What Our Athletes Are Saying
Alex- College Athlete Recovery
Alex is a college basketball player who badly sprained his ankle, dealing with some chronic upper back and neck stiffness, and was tired of plateauing with traditional, low-intensity physical therapy exercises and wanted to get back to his active lifestyle.
His journey began with a comprehensive examination from head-to-toe that revealed some joint restriction in his sprained ankle and upper thoracic spine along with some key weaknesses in the stabilizing muscles.
Through a 5 week plan of care including chiropractic adjustments, joint mobilization, soft tissue mobilization and therapeutic exercises Alex regained full range of motion and strength which allowed him to return to basketball and he was even able to hike his first 14er!
“I had a great experience with Brian at KinetikChain over the past 5 weeks. I came in with a nagging ankle injury and some upper back/neck pain stiffness. I’m now pain free and can get back to sports and hiking and it only took 5 weeks. All the trainers and staff are very kind. Highly recommend!” – Alex D (Google Review)
Sam – CrossFit Athlete Return to Full Activity
“I came to Brian with a shoulder injury that happened during a crossfit workout. The injury not only impacted some crossfit movements but also my ability to rock climb, which is my passion. Brian was fantastic and was able to get me back to climbing and pain free in 8 weeks. The recommended rehab exercises were very targeted and focused on getting me back to doing what I love. I came out not only pain free but also with better shoulder mobility then when I first came into the clinic. I would highly recommend working with Brian!” – Sam B (Google Review)
Sam came into the clinic unsure where her first efforts should go post-injury. After the first visit, we found the root of her issue was long-standing shoulder and thoracic mobility restrictions which caused her to overexert the same group of muscles each workout. A combination of joint manipulation, dry needling, cupping, soft tissue mobilization and rehabilitative exercises helped Sam not only recover from injury but attain more mobility than she had before injury. Cases like Sam come into the clinic every day and it’s amazing to see how much we can improve overall performance and health while working to rehabilitate injuries.
Chiropractic and Injury-Free Performance
Chiropractic care helps our patients get out of pain and improve their joint mobility so they can learn to move their bodies pain-free again.
After pain relief, chiropractic care goes on to address tissue flexibility, muscle strength, local blood flow and correct movement patterns in order to help get to the root cause, care for sport injuries and regain their ideal level of performance.
You’ve heard the reviews from a few of our spotlighted athletes, why haven’t you considered chiropractic as part of your recovery and performance strategy?
Ready to Take the First Step to a Healthier You?
KinetikChain offers a FREE Discovery Visit with one of our doctors to get to the root of your issue, and to make sure we are both a good fit for each other, before committing to any plan of care.
