The athletic sector is increasingly becoming competitive. Whether it’s combat sport or ball games, everyone wants to be on top of their game. There are records that need to be broken and milestones that need to be reached. You can only achieve it if you perform at your prime. We all hate losing, more so in front of a crowd. But at times, losing is not just a matter of not having the extra strength, speed or agility to dominate our opponents or beat the clock. Sometimes, it’s the inability to compete because of an injury.
While prescription drugs are often effective against injuries, a majority of them are an addiction risk. Surgery, on the other hand, looks like a great alternative but may keep you in the sideline for a while. You don’t want to be benched when you should be helping your team win or making your country proud. So, what treatment should you go for that does not involve prescriptions or surgery? Well, there can only be one practical answer and it’s called chiropractic.
What’s Chiropractic?
Chiropractic refers to a hands-on healthcare practice that focuses on your muscles, bones (including the joints), and nerves. Any problem affecting any of these parts can be handled by an expert known as a chiropractor. The expert uses hands to manipulate your body, more so the spine, so as you can experience relief from different forms of discomfort. You also enjoy the restoration of nerve functions and energy boost.
In addition to providing spinal adjustments, a chiropractor can provide advice on fitness coaching, better nutrition, lifestyle adjustments, and soft tissue therapy. Generally, chiropractic is a licensed health field and so you should expect a certified health expert to attend to you. Moreover, research shows that it’s safe for athletes who are looking to perform at their prime.
What Role Does Chiropractic Play in an Athlete’s Life?
There are so many ways an athlete can benefit from chiropractic care. So, it’s a holistic approach that you need to perform at your prime. The whole idea is to do it without prescriptions or the need for surgery. Here are the general roles:
- Pain Relief
So many injuries cause unmanageable pain on your joints and muscles. The pain is directly related to the nerves that are affected. Normally, they become misaligned and this is what results in pain. A chiropractor helps to realign them so as you can get maximum relief from pain. As a treatment solution, chiropractic can help against back pain, shoulder pain, knee pain, ankle pain, neck pain, and headache. Of course, chiropractic can be used alongside other natural ways of pain management.
- Injury Prevention
Chiropractic does not just help you manage the pain that comes with sports injuries. It’s also an effective preventive approach. As a matter of fact, research shows that 90% of top international athletes regularly seek chiropractic help for injury prevention so as they can perform at their highest levels. This is quite common in the NFL and NBA.
Chiropractic may not protect you from injuries completely but will definitely reduce their chances. This is because a chiropractor is able to keep your musculoskeletal system in the right condition so as to prevent postural imbalances, body stiffness, among other issues that may risk an injury. However, it should be insisted that you should do chiropractic routinely for injury prevention.
- Effective Training and Warming Up
So many athletic trainers consider chiropractic care as an important aspect of training. Therefore, they often refer their clients to chiropractors. With chiropractic care, you are able to train much better and survive the physical demands of working out. This is not all. The benefits extend to warming up. Since it’s customary to warm up before you can compete, you need to be in better shape. You should not suffer from muscle tightness, pain, or inflexibility. Chiropractic care can help you with this.
- Better Hand-Eye Coordination
Are you aware that you can enhance your hand-eye coordination ability by 30%? According to studies, this is possible just after a couple of months of chiropractic care. Usually, a subluxation (spinal misalignment) impairs the nerves that facilitate communication between the body and the brain. This reduces your hand-eye coordination. A chiropractor is able to realign the spine to get rid of subluxations. This boosts your hand-eye coordination. In the end, you enjoy better reflexes and body balance.
- Speed, Strength, and Flexibility
As an athlete, chiropractic can help you become faster, stronger, and more flexible. You need this to achieve optimum on-field performance. For example, by doing away with nerve restrictions, chiropractic helps you to enjoy a strong grip. Also, the adjustments make your muscles agile and this improves your jump height and running speed.
- Enhanced Range of Motion (ROM)
When training, you are likely to put excess pressure on your body. This creates a big health problem for your spine. Its alignment may be compromised and you may end up with joint stiffness or ache. For this reason, your ROM becomes limited. In the end, this reduces your athleticism. Simply, you are not able to train and compete as you should. Luckily, chiropractic care changes the narrative. It helps to enhance your ROM so as you can enjoy better muscle flexibility, bone support, and mobility.
- Speedy Recovery
By promoting pain relief, chiropractic helps you to move closer to your recovery. Several techniques are employed by a chiropractor to facilitate a speedy healing process. They include:
- Stretching exercises and massages – Meant to improve your ROM.
- Dry needling technique – Meant to release tension from your overwhelmed muscles.
- Electrical stimulation –Meant to excite your tired muscles and to release tension.
- Stainless steel devices – Meant to disintegrate tissue scars that form after an injury.
- Stress Relief
Lastly, considering how demanding some sports are, you are likely to be overwhelmed by pressure. The pressure does not just affect your body but your mind too. When your mind is overwhelmed, stress comes in. In the end, you cannot concentrate and this leads to poor performance. A chiropractor will help you achieve mental calmness. By helping your body relax, your mind will calm down in the end. This boosts your concentration power while in the field.
Closing Thought:
It’s clear that chiropractic is both a defensive and curative health approach in the sports world. You need it as an athlete if you are looking to stay competitive for a long time. It’s proven to be safe and has been effective over the years. So, you should be hopeful of some amazing results when you visit Healing Hands Chiropractic, located in Murfreesboro, TN!