Athletes can do whatever it takes to up their game. Be it nutrition, hours of rigorous training or maintaining a certain diet – athletes can follow it undeterred. They endure a tremendous amount of muscle and body pain when playing under high-pressure. 

Athletes use up every bit of their strength, flexibility, and speed in those last deciding moments of competition. This leaves them with nagging pain after every game that needs to be attended promptly before it becomes a bigger problem. For athletes that want to increase their performance, prevent injury or even speed up their recovery, chiropractic care is the safest and most effective choice they can make. 

Chiropractic care has been benefiting athletes for long but it has started gaining more traction in recent years. More than 90% of renowned athletes turn to chiropractors to improve their health and performance. According to reports, all NFL teams, PGA golfers and most of NHL, NBA and MLB teams have chiropractors on-board.

Here are some of the top reasons for the popularity of chiropractic care among athletes:

• Chiropractors give between 16,320 to 27,200 adjustments to NFL players during a football season.
• Regular consultation from chiropractors helps MLB players enhance their muscle strength as well as long-jump distance.
• Routine chiropractic treatment helps boost speed, flexibility, range of motion, balance and strength among football players.

The benefits of chiropractic care are many and go beyond sports-related injuries. Athletes use chiropractic care not only to recover from injuries but to prevent them and boost their performance potential. The therapy is preferred mainly because it allows them to get back on the field quickly all while being non-addictive and non-invasive, unlike other treatments that end up doing more harm than good.  

Injuries sustained while playing sports can result in misalignment of the spine, leading to spasms and pain-sensitive muscles, nerves, discs, joints, and ligaments. Concussions are another common sports-related injury athletes experience. A specialized chiropractor help prevent a concussion and aid in the fast recovery of affected athletes by adjusting the cervical spine. 

Here are some of the many benefits athletes get from chiropractor care:

1- Enhanced performance 

Athletes do strenuous exercise that can be taxing on their body and negatively impact their performance. Any injury affecting neuromusculoskeletal systems of the body can hamper functions of all other systems and result in reduced performance from an athletic. A chiropractor can perform therapies such as spinal compression, spinal adjustments and shockwave therapy to keep these abnormalities in check, which in turn helps an athlete boost their performance. A chiropractor can also help remove the imbalances and stressors on the nervous system. The therapy also works on correcting athletes’ posture which directly increases their agility and mobility.

A study in the Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association reported that there was a 6.12 percent increase in athletic performance just after one chiropractic treatment!

2- Better training

The benefits of chiropractic care for athletes go beyond just improving performance. One of the notable research studies by a Canadian research team highlighted that sixteen of severely injured female long-distance runners not only recovered quickly but attained their personal best under chiropractic care. 

Effective pain relief due to regular chiropractic can lead to significant improvement in the training abilities of athletes. So, a runner experiencing joint pain can achieve extra running mileage post chiropractic care. That’s why over 75 percent of athlete trainers refer their players to a chiropractor. 

3- Quick recovery time

Returning to active play is the top priority of every athlete. Chiropractic care is increasingly overtaking prescription drugs and surgery options when it comes to sports injuries. Prescription drugs can cause uneasiness and dizziness in athletes and surgery can leave them benched for months. Considering the side effects of those options, it’s easy to see why top athletes are increasingly placing their trust in chiropractors to help them get back on track in the shortest possible time. Sports chiropractors employ multiple techniques to promote rapid healing, which includes:

• Guided stretching
• Electrical muscle stimulation to strengthen the link between muscle movements and the brain
• Breaking down scar tissue through shockwave therapy
• Releasing deep muscle tension with specialized handheld instruments

4- Reduces chance of injuries

Injuries can happen any minute which can cause unnecessary stress on the body and lead to an injury. A chiropractor can rectify the problems in the musculoskeletal system to reduce the possibility of injury from minor incidents. 

Correcting posture is also one of the integral parts of the therapy that works wonders in avoiding injuries that are caused by incorrect posture. For instance, chiropractors work with soccer players to correct postural imbalances in their kicking styles that could lead to injury.

Consult a chiropractor at Iceberg Health today 

Reaching out to a chiropractor can be game-changing for an athlete. Whether you have a minor injury or a major misalignment, booking a 15-minute free consultation with our expert chiropractors to explore therapy options can help you understand exactly what is going on and put you on a path to optimal recovery and athletic performance. Call us at 678-505-0000 and visit us at one of our locations in Lawrenceville, Marietta, Morrow or Midtown. Mention you read our blog article to receive a free appointment!

The chiropractor will first evaluate the injury to develop an effective plan for you. They will may use several techniques such as shockwave therapy, manipulation therapy, or adjustments to restore your mobility.