Athletic Injuries Exercising is good for your health, but if you participate in sports long enough or hard enough itıs likely that at some point you may become injured. Whether these injuries are minor aches and pains or more serious sprains or breaks, your primary goal is to get back to your sport as soon as possible. Thatıs where acupuncture can help. Acupuncture can be used as the primary treatment or as an adjunct to other treatments such as surgery, chiropractic, massage or physical therapy. In either case, acupuncture can relieve pain, decrease swelling, increase the range of motion and speed the healing process so youıll be participating in your sport again sooner. The Theory Behind Acupuncture The Chinese theory and the Western medical theory of acupuncture are often contradictory. For most of us in the West, the Chinese theory is suspect because it is not based on scientific principles and anatomy. However, the Western explanation does not account for all of the proven effects of acupuncture. The Chinese theory holds that a vital energy or qi (pronounced chee) flows through channels in the body much like streets and highways through a city. When an injury occurs the qi canıt flow in its normal manner, just as a car wreck slows traffic. Acupuncture acts to restore the proper flow of qi in the channels, like a tow truck helps to clear the street allowing traffic to move again. However, we donıt really know why inserting thin needles at specific points in the body can do this. Thatıs where Western research has some but not all of the answers. Research has found that acupuncture releases endorphins, our natural pain-killing chemicals. This helps explain why acupuncture works so well on pain, but it fails to explain why acupuncture can help with nausea, something that the National Institutes of Health has claimed. A Chinese doctor quoted in Parade Magazine perhaps sums it up best, "Why should we spend time, money and resources just to convince Western doctors of something weıve used successfully for thousands of years?" Does Acupuncture also Heal the Injury? Yes, in addition to relieving pain, acupuncture can assist in healing an injury. Letıs use a sprained ankle as an example. Of course, youıll want to do the normal first aid procedures first. Then, if you add acupuncture treatments your healing time will decrease and youıll be participating in your sport again sooner. Using acupuncture the qi begins to flow again thereby decreasing the swelling and pain. By getting the qi to flow we allow the bodyıs healing mechanisms to work faster. Are There Other Benefits of Acupuncture? As the saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. This spring and summer I treated two patients who were training for the Canadian Ironman. Neither was injured, but with the intensity of their training they definitely were prime candidates for injury. By having regular acupuncture treatments both remained injury-free and successfully completed the 140-mile race. So whether you have an injury or you want to prevent one from occurring, feel free to contact me and we can assess if acupuncture is right for you. |
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