Being involved in sports or recreational activities plays an important role in a healthy, physically active lifestyle for today’s youth. Sometimes sports injuries are unavoidable. We can help these young athletes through chiropractic care.
The past several decades there has been a rise in sports participation at younger ages in the US along with greater participation and specialization in sports at earlier ages. According to the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Nearly 3 million children and adolescents who participate in youth sports and recreation are treated for related injuries in the emergency department each year. There are many preventative measures that can help ward off injury such as wearing the proper gear and protective equipment, being mindful of temperature, and proper nutrition and conditioning. Along with this, most professional sports leagues have a plethora of support staff such as team trainers, chiropractors, physical therapists, and massage therapists on staff. Often this is where it differs with our younger athletes. When it comes to our youth sports and recreation we have many coaches and leaders who are volunteers and put numerous hours in for the love of the game and sharing it with our kids. However, it is usually the parents’ responsibility to seek out trainers, chiropractors, and other support for their children. This is often overlooked. Chiropractic is as important for your child/adolescent as it is for a pro-athlete. Here are some of the reasons why.
Physical activity is great for the body, but repetitive physical tasks, lack of training, and harsh impacts can be especially hard on young growing bodies. Repetitive motions in sports, for example, pitching in baseball, puts repetitive strain on the part of your body that is used, which can cause an overuse injury. Micro injuries can be building over time before becoming symptomatic. It may not pose as a problem until eventually the athlete begins to develop some pain, and then goes to seek treatment options. Conditioning your body along the way with a chiropractic maintenance treatment can help to minimize the wear and tear on your body. This is important because often times it can help us prevent injuries from occurring. An article published in the June 2017 issue of Translational Pediatrics by Patel, Yamasaki, and Brown found that prior injury is a strong risk factor for future injury in young athletes.2 Prevention is the first line of defense. Chiropractic can help improve athletic performance by assisting the entire musculoskeletal system in proper function.
Sometimes sports injuries are unavoidable. Athletes can train and practice and still struggle with certain motions. If an injury does occur, chiropractic treatment can help. Chiropractic is a safe, non-invasive, medication-free treatment that goes to the source of the problem to correct it instead of masking it. Once an injury occurs an athlete wants to return to the sport as quickly as possible. When there is injury, whether it is a muscle strain or ligament sprain, misalignment, aches, tightness, stiffness, or radiating pain, the Doctors at Complete Care Chiropractic develop a treatment plan using specific techniques that are designed for the unique needs of each patient. These techniques include chiropractic adjustment, Low-Level Laser Treatment (Cold Laser), and SpiderTech Taping. We also commonly utilize soft-tissue techniques to treat a variety of athletic injuries including the Graston Technique, Trigger Point Therapy, Soft Tissue Mobilization, and Myofascial Release. Treating in a holistic manner along the entire kinetic chain allows for both effective and sustained relief of symptoms to both prevent re-injury and return you to optimal athletic performance.
As fun as sports and recreational activities may be, they can still take a toll on your body. Incorporating preventative measures to avoid injury is important. Chiropractic care can assist in both the preventative measures to avoid injury and the help promote healing should an injury occur. Be sure to make chiropractic care a priority in your youth’s active lifestyle. It will play an important role in keeping their bodies healthy and physically fit now and in the years to come. Their future self will thank you!
References:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Mar (2017). Protect the ones you love: child injuries are preventable: sport safety.
Patel, D, Yamasaki, A, Brown, K, Translational Pediatrics, Jul 2017, 6(3): 160-166, Epidemiology of sports-related musculoskeletal injuries in young athletes in the United States