Are you an athlete in the Boulder area who isn’t regularly seeing a chiropractor? You might be making a big mistake that’s putting you at risk for injuries. You might also be missing out on the best “secret weapon” for enhancing your performance. Sports chiropractic care can be an integral part of recovery, healing, and performance for many athletes. In fact, the pros have been using chiropractors to get “the edge” for decades. It’s widely known that all 32 franchises in the National Football League (NFL) offer chiropractic care to players. The same is true for Major League Baseball (MLB).

It’s nothing new. A paper released in 2002 on the use and role of sports chiropractors in the National Football League found that a substantial majority of NFL trainers have developed cooperative relationships with chiropractors. What’s more, 77% have referred players to a chiropractor. More than 30% of NFL teams had chiropractors officially on staff back in 2002. The numbers have only increased since then. Even Tom Brady has publicly shared that he relies on chiropractic care to perform at his best. It’s estimated that 90% of top athletes in all sports utilize chiropractic services.

What does this mean for everyday athletes trying to operate at peak performance levels? Here at Louisville Medical Center, we help active people discover the benefits of routine sports chiropractic care every day. We treat athletes of all ages. We’ve seen the way that taking time to focus on alignment and flexibility helps to enhance the performance of everyone from high school athletes to active seniors hitting the trails with their running shoes daily.

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How can you benefit from seeing a sports chiropractor? Regular visits can help you to feel more confident in your body because you’re actively working on blockages, misalignments, and tension points instead of waiting for them to slow you down. In addition to gaining better body awareness that’s going to give you tools for bringing your performance to a new level, you may be able to avoid pain and injuries that can slow down your performance. Take a look at the seven reasons why athletes should regularly see a sports chiropractor.

1. Injury Prevention

Even the most confident and capable athletes live in fear of injuries that can take them out of the game. In addition to causing you to miss out on opportunities today, a sports injury can leave you with chronic pain and dysfunction that could last a lifetime.

Here at Louisville Medical Center, we routinely treat athletes struggling with the following injuries as part of our comprehensive sports chiropractic services:

  • Back pain
  • Shoulder pain
  • Neck pain
  • Sore muscles
  • Swollen muscles
  • Stiff muscles
  • Pulled or sore hamstrings
  • Tennis elbow
  • Golfer’s elbow
  • Rotator-cuff injuries
  • Shin splints
  • Achilles-tendon injuries

Injuries can be especially worrisome for parents of children who participate in sports. Sports injury statistics demonstrate that more than 3.5 million children and teens experience sports injuries each year. Many people see a chiropractor for pain relief and rehabilitation after they’ve been injured. While there’s nothing wrong with this approach, it’s important to remember that it’s always better to try to be proactive about preventing injuries than it is to have to go through the rehabilitation process.

While there are countless personal stories on how sports chiropractic care has helped athletes get through seasons without an injury, it’s always helpful to look at specific cases. In 2020, researchers released an analysis on the effect of a sports chiropractic manual therapy intervention on the prevention of back pain, hamstring, and lower limb injuries in semi-elite Australian Rules footballers. The study found a trend towards lower limb injury prevention with a significant reduction in primary lower limb muscle strains and weeks missed due to non-contact knee injuries through the addition of a sports chiropractic intervention to the current best-practice management. For athletes worried that an injury may result in the need for surgery, you can find some hope in the fact that chiropractic intervention for injuries has actually been shown to reduce the need for surgery in many patients suffering from both chronic and acute pain and dysfunction.

2. Pain Relief Without Drugs

There is a possibility for rehabilitation and pain management without medication. Being prescribed pain medication can be a real game-changer for an athlete in their prime. Many parents of student athletes are concerned about the addiction epidemic going on in the country. They have a good reason to worry.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, “Some athletes can be at high risk for misusing prescription opioid pain relievers to help them deal with pain related to sports injuries.” When the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence researched opioid usage among student athletes, researchers found that 12% of male athletes had used prescription opioids in the 12-month period studied.

Chiropractic care can help athletes to recover from pain without medication. While medication only masks pain, chiropractic intervention gets to the source of the pain to restore function. Seeing a chiropractor can also drastically reduce a person’s likelihood of receiving an opioid prescription. One systematic review of six studies covering 62,624 patients with spinal pain found that recipients of chiropractic care had 64% lower odds of receiving an opioid prescription compared to people who did not receive chiropractic care.

louisville chiropractor 3. Relaxation

Athletes can greatly benefit from treatments like stretching and massage therapy for treating tired, sore muscles. There are also mental benefits to sports chiropractic care that can help to calm an athlete’s buzzing brain. Research shows that chiropractic sessions and massage therapy can reduce blood pressure. People also report feeling more stable after chiropractic sessions if they had been suffering from symptoms tied to stress and anxiety.

4. Better Sleep

Just one night of poor sleep can greatly throw off your athletic performance. Poor sleep can cause athletes to lose the motivation and endurance they need to give their best effort. That’s why the sleep benefits of chiropractic care are so interesting to so many athletes looking for ways to show up in the best form possible on competition day. Chiropractic care is considered helpful for restoring sleep among people suffering from insomnia, restlessness, sleep apnea, and other sleep disturbances. It can also help you to get a good night’s rest even if your sleep problem isn’t a sleep problem. If pain is keeping you awake at night because you’re having a hard time getting comfortable, a chiropractic adjustment may be what’s needed to finally enjoy pain-free nights again!

5. Improved Awareness and Responsiveness

Can chiropractic care make you function better within your body? For many athletes, chiropractic care is the way to get that true eye of the tiger. The reason why chiropractic care helps so many athletes to feel sharper is that chiropractic adjustments involve the central nervous system.

The central nervous system is the processing center of the body. It consists of your brain and spinal cord. Eliminating any blockages or restrictions that might be slowing down messages can make you feel like you have “super senses” compared to the way you were operating before the blockages and restrictions were addressed. Many people find that they have enhanced body awareness following chiropractic care. They may also find that their response times are faster because their perceptions become faster.

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6. Reduced Wear and Tear on the Body

When trying to operate with stiffness, tightness, and restrictions, we put unnecessary strain on the body. Unfortunately, many athletes are doing this because they don’t necessarily have the understanding of proper form and function when it comes to moving the body as effortlessly as possible. It’s very easy to put a strain on the body that will lead to lifelong wear and tear when we are young because we don’t feel affected by pain and discomfort. However, it’s very easy to wear out joints and tendons through repetitive movements when we’re not doing the regenerative work between training sessions. Sports chiropractors understand the areas of the musculoskeletal system that are especially vulnerable to wear and tear. Regular adjustments can help to preserve these vulnerable spots against wear and tear by helping to correct spinal misalignments and restrictions that are caused by training, repetitive movement, or contact plays.

7. Better Performance

Several studies show that regular sports chiropractic care can help athletes to enjoy an enhanced performance. One study done on the effect of chiropractic manipulative therapy on reaction time in special operations forces military personnel is especially interesting. According to researchers overseeing the study, a single session of chiropractic treatment was shown to have an immediate effect of reducing the time required for asymptomatic qualified personnel to complete a complex whole-body motor response task. In addition, a 2010 case report on the effect on a racewalker’s sports performance with chiropractic treatment found that chiropractic intervention can play a role in optimizing athletic performance.

How to See a Sports Chiropractor Near Boulder, Colorado

Athletes put it all on the line every single day. The truth is that the risk of an injury needs to be on your mind at all times when you’re an athlete. Chiropractic care offers a natural and beneficial way to help insulate your body against sports injuries caused by overtraining, falls, or collisions.

At Louisville Medical Center, we’ve seen the way that athletes have been able to gain confidence by integrating chiropractic care into their training plans. While we specialize in all forms of pain management and chiropractic care, our team is highly experienced in sports chiropractic care geared for athletes at all levels.

Some of the treatments we offer that are relevant for athletes seeking to operate at optimum capacity include:

Are you eager to learn more about working with a sports chiropractor in Louisville, Colorado? Our highly trained, qualified, and passionate team is ready to help you discover the systems that countless professional athletes have been using for decades to dominate in their sports. In fact, you can schedule a free consultation to learn more about our services and techniques before committing to an appointment. Simply schedule online or call (303) 666-7717 today!