Chiropractic Care Treatment for Sports Injury

Both professional and recreational sports players incur a sports injury from time to time, no matter what the sport. Impact and contact are common contact sports injuries in sports like football, skiing, wrestling and rugby. Often contact with another player can cause a change in direction quickly and damage connective tissues or cause a joint or disc to become displaced. Overuse is another cause of sports injuries. These types of injuries are typically progressive and result in a repetitive strain injury, such as jumper’s knee, golfer’s knee, tennis elbow, plantar fasciitis and thrower’s shoulder. Repetitive actions apply pressure to specific groups of muscles and joints, which become increasingly stretched or worn.

A proper warm-up and cool down are essential to prevent a sports injury. A warm-up before activity ramps up circulation to the muscles and loosens them. It also enables quicker muscle contraction. For example, short springs should entail a period of stretching and jogging before the run and last about 20 minutes. A cool down helps the body to recover and prevents stiffness in the muscles. It should include a series of stretches, light cardiovascular exercise and last a minimum of 20 minutes.

Chiropractic care is a holistic approach to treating sports injuries and is effective in reducing or eliminating knee pain, back pain, hand pain, neck pain and much more. It is focused on the spine, muscles, nerves, joints, tendons and ligaments. Treatment often includes spinal adjustments, massage therapy, nutritional counseling and stretches and exercises. With spinal adjustment, gentle pressure is applied to properly realign the spinal components that may be causing back pain or neck pain. Soft tissue treatment is another technique used by chiropractors. It is administered in the form of massage and stretching. Mobilization chiropractic therapy is implemented to improve joint movement and is effective for knee pain and hand pain.

The complementary treatment of massage therapy works synergistically with spinal adjustments and helps prepare the body to accept the adjustment. Plus, it increases blood flow to the affected area to accelerate healing, relaxes the muscles and boosts the body’s immune system. Nutritional counseling helps athletes learn all about important vitamins and choose the right foods that will support healing and maintain health. Corrective exercises help build muscle and prevent further and future sports injury.

Body Works Health & Wellness: Chicago Sports Chiropractor

Located in the West Loop neighborhood of Chicago, Body Works Health & Wellness is the choice Chicago sports chiropractor for athletes. Our West Loop chiropractor Dr. Zaffarkahn does a comprehensive examination to determine the root cause of pain from sports injuries, including biomechanics, neurological and physical therapy. Once he has identified the underlying problem, he creates a multi-faceted treatment plan that is individualized to target patient needs. If you’ve incurred a sports injury, give us a call at (312) 733-8676 to schedule an appointment.

“We’ve helped many athletes recover from injuries and can help you too.”