4 Reasons Why Athletes Benefit from Chiropractic

The world’s fastest man Usain Bolt [1], multiple world champion shot-putter Valerie Adams [2] and all All Blacks great Mils Muliaina [3] are just some of the sporting legends who swear by Chiropractic care.

Experts estimate that 90% of all world-class athletes use chiropractic care to prevent injuries and increase their performance potential. However, you don’t have to be a professional athlete to benefit from regular chiropractic care. Here at Chiropractic Balance, we look after all fitness levels:

Dr Roz likes to enter local running events to give her something to work towards

-        Those who havent exercised in years

-        Weekend warriors

-        Post-injury

-        Professionals

4 Reasons Why Athletes Benefit from Chiropractic

1. Enhanced Performance

At Chiropractic Balance we look at how your muscles, nerves and joints are functioning rather than just relying on where your symptoms are. Many athletes (of all levels) have areas of imbalance in their spine, joint and muscles, which can create focal areas of nerve irritation (subluxation). At low levels this may not cause pain but it can still be interfering with optimal function of strength, flexibility, speed and coordination. As a result, athletic performance suffers.

Numerous studies support the fact that chiropractic care helps athletes achieve an optimal level of performance. A Canadian research team included chiropractic care in the rehabilitation program of 16 injured female long-distance runners. The runners recovered quickly; seven of them actually scored “personal best” performances while under chiropractic care.

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, find that it helps improve not only his health, but his performance, “Chiropractic just makes you feel so much better. When I walk out of the clinic, I feel like I’m about three inches taller and everything’s in place. And as long as I see the chiropractor, I feel like I’m one step ahead of the game.”

2. Injury Prevention

Most sports and exercises involve significant strain on the body and can also involve physical impact eg.

-        Tackling or contact into another player

-        A ball hitting your bat or club

-        Using your body unevenly

-        Feet impacting the ground

When your body is out of balance, you are more likely to have an injury. Many athletes swear by the positive effects of chiropractic when talking about their personal successes including Arnold Schwarzenegger and Tiger Woods.

And the latest research backs them up, a series of studies[4] show large changes in the maximum output of the muscle after a chiropractic adjustment session and research in BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders reported that Australian football players who used a regiment of chiropractic care had a fewer number of leg injuries than those who did not.

3. Resolve Injury

It’s been shown that high-impact sports can place the same amount of strain on the body as an motor vehicle accident.  Chiropractors test the spine, joint, muscle and nerve function of your entire body as the site of injury might not be the only area that has been affected. By ensuring the injured site is more balanced and has better blood and nerve supply, injuries often heal faster and you can get back to doing what you love sooner.

4. Decreased Pain without Medication or Invasive treatment

Chiropractic care is an honest way to enhance your performance. As many studies have shown, chiropractic care helps athletes recover from injuries with reduced need for painkillers or invasive surgery. In a recent article reviewing the effectiveness of spinal manipulation, chiropractic adjustments were consistently better than other medical options in reducing the intensity of acute low back pain, plus restoring normal function, both for short-term and long-term effects.

Therefore no matter if you are already injured, would like to prevent getting injured or want to perform better, Chiropractic may be able to help you!

[1] http://metro.co.uk/2012/12/06/chiropractic-formed-part-backbone-london-2012-3816197/

[2] http://www.digitaljournal.com/sports/world-s-most-dominant-athlete-thanks-chiropractor-for-51st-st-win/article/388583

[3] https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/mar/25/all-blacks-mils-muliaina-us-pro-rugby

[4] Haavik H, Niazi IK, Jochumsen M, Sherwin D, Flavel S, Türker KS. (2017) Impact of spinal manipulation on cortical drive to upper and lower limb muscles. Brain Sciences. In Press

[5] https://bmcmusculoskeletdisord.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2474-11-64