Sports injuries

Running injuryAccording to Statistics Canada, injury due to sport and recreational involvement is second in frequency only to motor vehicle accidents. Both serious and recreational athletes alike sometimes push their bodies too hard in an attempt to become healthier, stronger, faster, or more agile. While regular exercise is an important part of a healthy lifestyle, weekend warrior activities, extreme sports, and lack of proper training and/or stretching can increase our risk of injuries.

Instead of allowing adequate time to heal completely, we often push ourselves to continue by using painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs which only mask the problem. While drugs may allow you to return to your sport, in the long run they may make the problem worse by slowing healing, rendering us susceptible to further injury, and causing side effects that can impact health and performance.

Acupuncture and TCM treatments will:

  • Decrease pain, inflammation, and bruising
  • Relax muscles and relieve muscle spasms
  • Speed healing time by improving blood circulation to the affected area
  • Increase the range of motion of injured joints

Other benefits of TCM treatments for sports include:

  • Increase energy and endurance
  • Improve general health and decrease frequency of illness
  • Provide faster recovery from workouts and training
  • Allow for better focus of mind
  • Provide a competitive edge for achieving peak performance

Motor Point Acupuncture
Acupuncture is an extremely effective method to correct muscle imbalances within the body that can predispose it to injury and cause pain, and restricted movement. Motor Point Acupuncture is a modern form of acupuncture treatment that works with the nervous system to release overused, tightened and ropy soft tissues through needles specifically placed into the neuromuscular junction (called the motor point). The needle placement allows for: release of shortened muscle groups, rebalancing of opposing muscle groups, correction of dysfunctional pull on the joint, considerable reduction in pain, decreased inflammation, and increased blood flow to the injured area therby promoting healing.

Carolyn has received extensive training in Motor Point Acupuncture techniques as taught by Matt Callison. They combine both traditional acupuncture techniques that use acupuncture points to decrease pain, reduce inflammation, increase circulation, and unblock the affected channel pathways along with the modern motor point needling techniques. She finds the combination of traditional acupuncture techniques with modern motor point needling to be extremely effective in the treatment of sports injuries due to trauma, over-training, or repetitive strain.

What Types of Injuries can Acupuncture Effectively Treat?

  • Neck tension, pain, and restricted range of motion
  • Rotator cuff tears and shoulder impingement
  • Lateral and medial epicondylitis (tennis & golfer’s elbow)
  • Back tension, pain, muscle strain and spasms
  • Disc problems such as herniation or impingement
  • Hip pain and bursitis
  • Sciatica and piriformis syndrome
  • Hamstring strains and tears
  • Hip flexor strains or imbalances
  • IT Band syndrome, knee pain
  • Shin splints
  • Achilles tendonitis
  • Ankle spains
  • Plantar fasciitis
  • Tendonitis

Pain
Acupuncture helps with muscle tension by forcing the nerves and the muscles to relax. If muscles are in spasm, it will impinge and pinch the nerves that run through it, causing pain, numbness, tingling or weakness. By relaxing the muscles, these nerves are no longer being injured, which will naturally reduce the pain signals that are being elicited by the spasming muscle.

Research links

Links compiled by Matt Callison

Sports Injuries and Acupuncture

About Motor Point Acupuncture

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