subject: Treating Sports Related Injury With Acupuncture [print this page] Treating Sports Related Injury With Acupuncture
Most athletes, may they be professionals or just starting out, commonly encounter a strain or sprain at any point of their career. These common sports related injuries may not be too serious to other individuals but for athletes, an injury can be a dilemma.
While a sprain involves a ligament, a strain on the other hand involves a tendon or a muscle. Aside from the pain that would directly impede an athlete's performance, these injuries normally involve inflammation in the injured area that decelerates the motional function of the joint.
Conventional treatments for these types of injuries usually include medications and R.I.C.E, which stands for Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation. However, today many athletes have found relief from acupuncture treatment, which has been proven to not only suppress inflammation but also helps reduce the swelling fast.
If untreated right away, a simple injury such as a sprain or a strain may prolong the inflammation and worst the athlete may not regain his joint mobility in top form.
Based on the principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), acupuncture was first used as an anesthetic way back thousands of years back in ancient China. The TCM theory on acupuncture has it that the human body thrives on a balance of opposing forces of energy, the yin and yang. The vital life force of the body, known as "Qi" flows in the meridians otherwise known as the energy channels. Along these channels are acupuncture points that are directly associated with specific organ system in the body. Once the energy flow is obstructed, it creates an imbalance in the yin and yang, which results to illnesses.
Through acupuncture, the normal flow of the body's Qi can be revitalized. Acupuncture uses specialized hair-thin needles that are inserted into the specific acupuncture points on the body.
Aside from treating sports related injuries, acupuncture treatments offer a whole lot of benefits to athletes. During needle treatment, the capillaries tend to open and in the process improve blood circulation and wash off the lactic acid from the muscles. Lactic acid can cause soreness and muscle fatigue.
Acupuncture treatment has also been proven to generate endorphin production in the body. Endorphins are substances in the body that induces the feeling of happiness and promotes positive well-being.
Today, more and more athletes have resorted to alternative treatments such as acupuncture, which does not involve drug medications because with it, they can be certain not to get implicated in a doping glitch. In fact, the National Sports Acupuncture Association has studied methods on how to apply acupuncture to help improve the performance of athletes aside from using the treatment merely for sprains and strains.
The NSAA uses a three-pronged approach: the Yin aspect to develop the muscles during training, the Yang aspect that boosts performance output and the third is the individual treatment that focuses on the health history of the athlete including past injuries that could affect his performance.
