While the following list is by no means exhaustive, it does give a good idea of just how many sports injuries acupuncture has been shown to successfully treat. Aside from treating injuries, acupuncture is beneficial to athletes because it keeps their bodies functioning efficiently and comfortably.
Tennis Elbow
As sufferers of this condition are well aware, there is a long list of treatment options and the results of those treatments tend to vary wildly from one person to the next. Even if a treatment such as a cortisone shot alleviates the pain, many people find that it returns later.
Acupuncture is one of the few treatments for tennis elbow that tends to provide consistent results for the majority of people who try it. Many report the pain lessens as soon as the needle is inserted. Additionally, patients who are treated successfully remain pain free long term.
Runner’s Knee
Despite the name, lots of different activities can lead to the pain of Runner’s Knee. Cyclists, skiers, soccer players, basketball players and others are often afflicted with Runner’s Knee. The pain occurs when the knee cap doesn’t line up just right with the cartilage and other tissues that usually support it and help everything function smoothly. The tissue beneath and below the knee cap becomes inflamed and can eventually begin to break down.
Because acupuncture helps enhances the body’s ability to use its built-in healing mechanisms, many have found that acupuncture helps with both pain and function. Acupuncture encourages the natural release of endorphins and cortisol, easing pain quickly and helps the knee cap naturally realign into the proper position.
Sprains
Not many people get through life without enduring the pain of a sprained ankle at some point. The agony of a severe sprain, though, is more common among athletes. Due to the nature of an injury such as a sprain, around a joint where blood pools and swelling occurs, acupuncture is ideally suited to ease the pain and also speed the healing process.
Acupuncture allows your body’s blood and energy to flow properly, which is what must happen for a sprain to heal. The inflammation blocks things up, so to speak, causing the blood to pool and the resultant purplish bruising known to accompany a bad sprain. When the inflammation is reduced and the blood can move properly the pain lessens and the healing happens faster.
There are other injuries and conditions that plague athletes that are often successfully treated with acupuncture. The ones listed here have all been topics of various scientific studies, but the best way to find out if acupuncture “works” is to try it. If you have been suffering pain from an injury or condition caused by your physical activities, you have likely already been through a range of unsuccessful treatments. Find relief through acupuncture.
