Acupuncture as it Pertains to Athletes
Athletes at all levels experience acute injuries, fatigue and pain that lingers. I would like to discuss how acupuncture can treat athletes’ injuries and many other conditions like stress, migraines, PMS & irritable bowels with successful results.
ll athletes, from enthusiasts to professionals, experience injury, fatigue and lingering pain. All o f these things affect the performance, recovery and potentially the long-term goals of an athlete. Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine can assist the athlete by healing injuries, increasing recovery rate and enhancing the athlete’s performance.
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Injury
Where there is no free flow there is pain; where there is pain there is no free flow.First let’s begin by discussing how acupuncture can assist the athlete in terms of injury and/or pain. There is a saying in Chinese Medicine, “where there is no free flow there is pain; where there is pain there is no free flow.” That is to say acupuncture seeks to reopen lines of communication to assist your body to do what it naturally wants to, heal itself.
In acupuncture the needles suggest to the body a different or more efficient way to use its resources:
- In cases of acute injury, the body responds by stiffening, swelling or tightening other muscles in order to prevent further injury. Acupuncture can remove these blockages and release tense muscles so that the body’s energy can freely flow to the site of injury; hence bringing recovery and healing.
- In cases of chronic injury or pain, the body does not have enough energy or resources to ehal itself. Acupuncture can facilitate healing by building qi, or energy, in the body and directing it where to go.
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RACE & TRAINING
Next let’s discuss how acupuncture can assist the athlete in terms of race & training recovery.When an athlete is training or racing, the body is being pushed beyond its level of comfort, tearing the muscles in hopes of coming back stronger. However, when the body does not come back stronger, or it takes a long time to get there, the atlete can experience fatigue, pain or insomnia for example. This is due to a lack of resources in the body
In these cases, acupuncture is the body like gas is to a care. You can not get very far without gas in the tank. Acupuncture needling techniques along with Chinese herbs:
- harmonize the body
- regulate the body’s existing qi
- build the body’s energy in order to increase the efficiency of recovery
Acupuncture can decrease recovery time & increase the strength at which the body recovers, therefore maximizing the potential of the athlete.
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PERFORMANCE
Finally let’s discuss how acupuncture can assist the athlete in terms of sports performance.Depending on each sport and what action the athlete wants to improve, acupuncture focuses the attention of the body on specific muscle groups and meridians, activating them for use.
Say for instance you are a cyclist and you want to increase your cadence; acupuncture triggers specific points on the body making your quadriceps muscles fire faster, which increases the rate of your cadence.
Numerous needling techniques such as this can activate specific muscles for use as well as improve the cardiovascular and neurological systems, thus enhancing the performance of the athlete. This type of treatment best enhances the performance of the athlete when performed as close to race time as possible, yet will still be effective if utilized during regular treatments.
