Contact sports, such as football, hockey, soccer, and lacrosse, all come with the risk of sustaining injury.
Injury, however, doesn't mean that a player is out of the game for good, and chiropractic care for contact sport injuries can help athletes to recover faster and lessen the pain they experience following an event.
Finding a chiropractor who is experienced in treating contact sport injuries is crucial for gaining the maximum benefit of treatment and reducing recovery time. It's important that the practitioner shares your goal: ensuring you get back to optimal health and then getting you back on the field or court.
Types of Contact Sport Injuries
There are many different types of injuries that occur in contact sports. These can result from physical contact with other players or with inanimate objects such as a goal post.
No matter how the injury is incurred, the result is often the same; continued pain and a break from the game. The most common types of contact sports injuries include:
- Concussions and head injuries
- Dislocated joints (shoulders and knees)
- Ligament and tendon damage
- Bone fractures and breaks
- Spinal injuries with back and neck pain
Coping with a contact sport injury can be just as taxing mentally as it is physically, and athletes often want to recover as quickly as possible so that they can return to doing what they love. A trained chiropractic professional can help you do just that.
Evaluating Contact Sport Injuries for Chiropractic Care
The type of chiropractic care an athlete will receive depends on the type of injury sustained, and the goal is to develop the most comprehensive and customized treatment plan based on each individual. There are several ways that the course of care will be determined:
- Self-reporting from the athlete describing their pain and the context of the injury
- X-Rays
- MRIs for muscle, tendon, and ligament injuries
- CT Scans for bone injuries
- In-office tests for pain levels, range of motion capabilities, etc.
Each injury is just as unique as the athlete who suffers from it and in order to provide the best chiropractic care possible for contact sport injuries the more thorough testing and medical evaluation is conducted the better the chance is for a full and speedy recovery.
The Course of Chiropractic Care for Athletes
After an injury has been evaluated a course of treatment will be determined. This plan may be altered as treatment progresses to address any changing needs that present throughout care. Chiropractic care for contact sport injuries can take many forms, and the treatment plan will be best suited to the presenting issues. Types of care an athlete may receive following an injury include:
Ultrasound Therapy
A form of heat therapy that's used on soft tissue to relieve pain. It is utilized when treating injuries to muscles, tendons, and ligaments. It may be used on knee and shoulder injuries and the associated back or neck pain.
Benefits include increased circulation, increased range of motion, and improved muscle elasticity, leading to a faster recovery time.
Chiropractic Adjustments
Focused primarily on pain associated with the spine, neck, back, and joints. If you have suffered repeated injuries on the field to a specific part of your body, such as a knee joint, chiropractic adjustments will aim to properly re-align the joint to prevent any further damage.
A full body chiropractic adjustment is also beneficial for spine and neck injuries as they can realign the vertebra and ease pain associated with slipped discs.
Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization (IASTM)
Another form of therapy used on soft tissue injuries. It increases blood flow to the targeted area, reducing inflammation and pain.
Hot/Cold Therapy
Used depending on an athlete's specific needs on soft tissue to help alleviate pain, increase range of motion, and reduce muscle spasms.
Chronic Pain and Injury
Some contact sport injuries do result in chronic pain, especially if there has been repeated trauma to a specific area. This is especially common with knee and shoulder injuries. Proper chiropractic care can help to manage this type of pain, enabling an athlete to continue playing with minimal disruption.
Continued chiropractic care for athletes can lead to improved performance, muscle function, and endurance over extended periods of time.
Chiropractic care for athletes and contact sport injuries is available at ChiroCare of Florida. Call your nearest location today, to schedule an appointment to speak with our professionals today.
