One of the many amazing things about Colorado is its access and involvement in sports and physical hobbies. Think about all we have being offered to us– amazing trials for hiking or biking, rock climbing, rafting, snowboarding, you name it! In any physical activity like those listed above, there is always risk for injury. With acupuncture, you’ll come to learn that we do more than just treat injuries, we can help you prevent them so you stay at the top of your game. The Acupuncture Research Resource Center states, “exercise may deplete energy generally, including the qi, blood, yin and yang, leading to weakening of the defensive qi. This allows the body to become more vulnerable to external pathogenic factors, which in turn can lead to dysfunction of the zang-fu organs. In addition, overuse due to repetitive movements in certain sports – eg, tennis – may cause weakness to local area muscles, tendons and ligaments, causing qi and blood deficiency and/or stagnation.”
We get many calls asking about what injuries we can treat. So many have to have surgeries or simply try to live with the pain of an injury and they don’t realize that acupuncture can do some pretty amazing things to the body.
Femoral adductors syndrome, for example, is a very common injury. It is caused by a sudden change in movement that results in excessive strain on the adductors. The muscles overstretch, spasm and can go through tears in the tissue. Generally there isn’t much can be done aside from resting, rehabilitation or ultrasounds to encourage blood flow through the tissue. However, acupuncture can speed up recovery by reducing the inflammation, preventing further tears.
Many people get ankle sprains and have to have a brace or use ice frequently to deal with the inflammation, but acupuncture can help with recovery of this common injury as well. 
In the office we meet quite a few people who have an injury to the plantar fascia. Athletes who are used to great impacts caused my running, climbing or jumping find that they have difficulty even walking. A combination of treatments can be used here, including acupuncture and several of our tools from the Fixt Recovery Lab.
No matter how big or small the injury may seem, give acupuncture a try to help you recover more quickly and with less discomfort. Call our friendly staff and see what we can do for you.
For more information, read this paper published by the British Acupuncture Council: http://www.acupunctureresearch.org.uk/papers/BP11_Sport.pdf
