Whether you’re a pro athlete or just a weekend warrior, sports injuries are a common part of the game.
Fortunately, there are plenty of places where you can find therapy to help recover from your injury and get back in the game. Where you go often depends on what treatment you want and what type of athlete you are.
Physical Therapy
Sports are a great way to stay active and healthy, but they can also be risky. Overuse injuries, such as strains, sprains and tears are among the most common sports injuries but they can be easily treated with physical therapy.
A physical therapist can help you with your recovery by designing a personalized plan to get you back to your normal activities. The treatment will include manual therapy to increase range of motion, stretches to improve balance and mobility, and strengthening exercises to optimize movement.
Physical therapy is a key resource for sports injury recovery, including whiplash. Seek professional help from specialized physical therapists for effective rehabilitation, tailored exercises and pain management techniques.
Depending on the injury, your physical therapist may also use exercise prescription and electric muscle stimulation to reduce pain and speed up recovery. They may even use thermotherapy to decrease inflammation and re-educate muscles to improve function.
Whether you’re looking for a physical therapist to treat a specific sports injury or just want to keep your body strong and pain-free its important to find one who is dedicated to helping you reach your goals.
Massage Therapy
Massage therapy is a great option for sports injury rehabilitation. It can help heal sprains, strains and other muscle injuries as well as alleviate pain and increase mobility.
A deep tissue massage uses firm pressure on the deeper layers of muscle and connective tissues to break up adhesions or ‘knots’ that develop after an injury, reducing pain and tension. Trigger point therapy is also used to target specific knots and relieve pain in the area.
In addition to healing sprains and strains sports massage increases the flow of blood and lymph fluids, which speeds the recovery process for athletes. It also helps break up scar tissue, allowing the body to start the healing process again in older injuries.
Chiropractic Care
Chiropractic care offers a non-invasive drug-free solution for athletes of all ages and skill levels. By restoring optimal joint mobility and aligning the spine, chiropractors can reduce inflammation, improve blood circulation, and relieve pain and tension.
Chiropractic doctors look at the body as a whole, which helps them identify the source of your pain and injuries. They also look at your overall health and make recommendations to help you prevent future sports injuries.
Often, sports injuries occur due to forceful impacts or repetitive motions that cause stress on the body. They may also be caused by atypical body postures that put extra strain on the musculoskeletal system.
Acupuncture
Acupuncture is a natural, drug-free way to reduce pain and speed recovery. It is used to treat a wide variety of medical conditions and injuries, including sports-related ones.
Acupuncture improves blood flow to the injured area. This increases healing, reduces swelling and allows the injured muscles to relax.
It also helps stop muscle spasms. This is a common problem in athletes, as muscles become overworked and overextended.
Acupuncture is an excellent adjunct to physical rehabilitation, especially for chronic conditions that are difficult to control with other methods of treatment. For example, acupuncture can reduce pain enough to allow a gradual return to training in a semi-professional rugby player with patellar tendinopathy.
Orthopedic Surgery
Orthopedic surgery can help diagnose and treat problems affecting bones, joints, tendons, muscles, and nerves. It can also help people with chronic or traumatic injuries.
When you have a sports injury, it is best to seek treatment as soon as possible. This will minimize the long-term effects of the injury and ensure that you can resume your normal activities.
At New York Sports Medicine Institute, our orthopedic surgeons specialize in the evaluation and treatment of conditions affecting the shoulder, knee, hip, elbow, hand, wrist and foot. Our specialists use minimally invasive and arthroscopic surgery, as well as traditional open surgery, to help patients with sports-related or chronic conditions.
