In this day, the ever-growing popularity of sports has made the athlete and the industry extremely competitive. Pro athletes and even weekend athletes attempt to be their competitive best. Consequently, this intensifies the physical and emotional demand placed upon them. Athletes are becoming more driven, obsessive, focused on their sport, and often neglect the recovery time necessary to perform at these very intensive levels. Every year, it seems to be placing an even more significant demand on an athlete’s overall health, subjecting the athlete to injury. Due to this demand, many pro athletes need to spend time and money on recovery after routine training and athletic events.
How does Sports Acupuncture work for Athletes?
From an elementary understanding, acupuncture helps trigger the body to regulate itself and maintain balance or homeostasis. Basic medical research demonstrates that acupuncture stimulates the secretion of an endogenous opioid such as endorphin. Any sports injury treatment goal is to eliminate pain, reduce inflammation, increase mobility by reducing muscle tightness and spasms, and re-activate the injured, weakened muscles. With extreme athletic events and exercise training, an injury may not be present, but overall, the body has been impacted with these damage elements on a much lesser scale. This microtrauma is more diffuse and on a broader level throughout the body structures. Acupuncture for recovery will address these issues. The results can include immediate pain reduction, the release of muscle spasm and restriction, decrease swelling, increase range of motion, restore flexibility, help improve mobility.
Athletes worldwide use sports acupuncture to avoid getting hurt and promote recovery when sustained injury. Sports acupuncture is helpful to speed healing, relieve pain, and increase muscle strength and endurance. Acupuncture helps the athlete recover physically and provides mental security when recovery is active and therapeutically responsible. It can give the athlete that psychological edge, knowing that their body is ready for the next high-performance athletic events.