5 Benefits of Chiropractic Care for Athletes

In 2019 alone, over one million injuries were caused by playing sports. Many of these injuries happened on the field, where over 800,000 injuries were caused by participating in sports. Bicycling had the highest casualty numbers (over 417,000 cyclists were injured while riding), with basketball (404,000 injuries) and football (292,000 injuries) following close behind. As athletes debate where and how to treat their injuries, many will inevitably turn to chiropractic care. Chiropractic care offers many benefits for aspiring and professional athletes, but there is an overwhelming amount of information on the internet. To help, here are five benefits that athletes can expect from chiropractors:

1. It can Treat (and Prevent) Injuries:

Experienced athletes know how common it is to injure themselves on the field. Therefore, a large part of an athlete’s healthcare program should include preventing, as well as treating, common injuries. Thankfully, a chiropractor can do both! 

Athletes’ bodies undergo enormous amounts of stress daily. To combat this, chiropractors can perform spinal adjustments and massage therapy to treat injuries. Spinal adjustment reduces pain in the joints and muscles, which helps to prevent injuries, while massage therapy increases blow flow to the muscles to help them heal. Additionally, it also restores one’s range of motion.  

2. It can Increase Performance

According to The Odyessy, athletes who make repeated visits to the chiropractor see increased performance while playing. In fact, several studies claim that athletes can see a 30% increase in performance after 12 weeks of care. This, according to The Odyessy, is a result of the increased range of motion people receive after repeated chiropractic care. 

3. Improved Strength 

The European Journal of Supplied Physiology published a study in 2018 claiming that regular chiropractic care can improve athlete’s strength. After separating a group of Taekwondo athletes into two groups – one which received chiropractic care and one that did not – they found that those who received care demonstrated increased muscle strength. The experiment was replicated with a group of U.S. military personal and found similar results. 

4. It’s a Natural Treatment

Surgeries and medication are typically the last resort in a treatment plan. Many people, athletes included, turn to natural remedies before considering extreme measures. Chiropractic treatment is non-invasive and drug-free. As an added bonus, the lack of surgery means that, for most athletes, they can return to the field straight away. 

5. It Reduces Stress 

Massage therapy is incredibly relaxing! If you’re an athlete looking to relieve stress and anxiety before playing, try the Swedish massage, one of the most commonly used techniques in America. The Swedish massage promotes general health and wellbeing throughout the body and is reportedly very relaxing. 

Dr. Michael Hartle and his team are experts in treating patients no matter their activity level. Book an appointment today! Dr. Hartle can usually see you the same day you book an appointment. 

Five Ways That Family Chiropractic Care Can Benefit You

One of the greatest aspects of chiropractic is how it can be modified and customized for each patient. Every family member can find ways to better their health, whether it be a young athlete building their strength, an older grandparent recovering their balance, or a parent lessening their recovery time. At Allen County Family and Sports Chiropractic, we’ve had years of experience treating Fort Wayne families, and we can provide you with specialized care. 

Not just for adults

Chiropractic is often associated with treating back pain, and while that is a major part of the practice, that’s just the beginning. Adults can underestimate how much strain a child’s body can undergo with constant growth, rough play, sports, and common accidents. Children are hard on their bodies! According to the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association, children can see these results from visiting with a chiropractor:

• Deeper and more consistent sleep
• Stronger immune system
• Improved behavior

Children may not recognize when something is wrong with their bodies, or they may not have the words to express their worries. This is why seeing a spinal expert can ensure healthy development. The spinal cord is full of nerves that connect throughout the body, so it is vital that posture and vertebrae are regularly corrected. 

Maintain youthful energy

We are all seeking ways to stay young, to continually improve our mental and physical health. But we cannot ignore the stress of day-to-day life, nor the exertion we inflict on our bodies in that quest. 

What achievements are on your bucket list? Running a half-marathon? Hitting a bench press PR? Maybe just playing a game of tennis without your wrist hurting?

As our bodies age and change, we need to be able to adapt our lifestyles and habits to be on the best path. Setting new goals gives us something to strive for, but those challenges also need to be realistic, and we need to be adequately prepared for them. A chiropractor can help point and correct misalignments or problems you may not even be aware of. 

Prevent and Treat Pain

Studies have reported up to 20% of Americans have chronic pain. While not all discomfort can be treated, chiropractic can help lessen the severity, or build up muscles around the place of injury. In a 2017 report, the American College of Physicians published that chiropractic is a method for treating chronic lower back pain. 

Not only can chiropractors help you recover from injury, but they can stop damage happening in the first place. Increasing your flexibility, familiarity with pressure, and nutrition can prepare your body for building up your strength, speed, and reaction time without harming yourself. 

Holistic, natural treatment

One of the most appealing aspects of chiropractic is how it is drug-free, and built around your lifestyle. Chiropractic doctors consider your medical history, past experience, lifestyle, and conduct a preliminary examination before performing any adjustments or providing advice. Bodily pain is often given a default answer of ‘medication’, which can lead to complications, side-effects, and unseen consequences. But with chiropractic, all treatment is personal, intrinsic, and designed to help encourage your body to perform. 

Call us today to learn how we can help you feel better, be more capable, and achieve new heights!

Too Young for a Chiropractor?

Parents want to protect their children—and when it comes to medical care, they want what’s best for them. Many adults who use chiropractors assume that their children are too young for chiropractic care. This belief couldn’t be further from the truth. Family chiropractic clinics offer beneficial services to all clients, regardless of age. 

Because the spine and nerves of children are still growing and moving, family chiropractors use special, gentle techniques to adjust the spine as needed. The goals are similar to the treatment in adults—adjustments to take the pressure off the body and alleviate pain for optimal movement—but the method prioritizes the vulnerable frame of your child. 

Chiropractor for Children

If you’re searching for a chiropractor for children, you’ll find one at nearly any family chiropractic clinic in Indiana. These types of clinics tend to focus on care for the entire family. And family chiropractic care isn’t just reserved for adults—children are one of the biggest benefactors of the treatment. Let’s look at why.

Family Chiropractic Care Prevents Injury

When you’re an adult, and you see a chiropractor, your body has suffered injury—big or small—from stress, strain, and repeated movement. Pain may only occur after many months, years, or even decades of buildup. With children, their bodies are newer and haven’t yet endured years of stress. 

Chiropractors for children use their clients’ youth to their advantage and work to prevent injury and pain from occurring in the first place. If children receive treatment early on, their bodies will perform better and won’t suffer as much in the future. With adjustments, stretching, positioning, and other chiropractic care methods, your child’s youthful bounce can last even longer.

Builds Strength & Flexibility

Along with preventing injury, by receiving family chiropractic care, children can also build their strength in a healthy way that’s appropriate for their age. Regular adjustments and specific exercises that align the back, spine, and pelvis can develop your child’s strength and improve flexibility. These methods work to prevent injury as well, but they can also help your child perform better in daily activities without you worrying about damage or pain. 

Educates

Children’s brains are like sponges, and they crave learning. By seeking family chiropractic care for your child, you are allowing them to learn about their health and body. Because of their cognitive abilities at such a young age, children can absorb knowledge in a way that will stick with them for years to come. Learning about their bodies now can set your child up for a healthy lifestyle, even as an adult. 

Manages Common Conditions and Diseases 

Just because a child is young doesn’t mean that they don’t struggle from certain conditions or diseases. Chiropractors for children specialize in gentle movements and treatments that can go further than pain relief and alignments—they can help kids to cope with life. Chiropractic care is known to help manage common issues such as bedwetting, earaches, digestive issues, allergies, ADHD, crying, and more. Your chiropractor can discover the root of your child’s problem and use gentle movements, adjustments, and exercises to relieve their discomfort.

Types of Chiropractors

Visiting a chiropractor is often a result of some pain in the body. When deciding which type of chiropractor to see, it’s essential to understand which variety of practice is best for your situation. In general, there are a few types of chiropractic methods: symptom-relief, sports, and wellness. Your symptoms, kind of pain, and treatment goals will all determine which approach is best for you. 

It’s also essential to consider the purpose of your treatment. Are you interested in relieving symptoms or healing the body? Are you hoping to enhance sports performance and daily life, or do you need simple adjustments? Whatever your goals for recovery, there is a different type of chiropractor for you.

Symptom-Relief Chiropractors

For those that need to decrease symptoms of pain, such as headaches or neck and back pain, musculoskeletal treatment may be best. This method involves traditional chiropractic adjustments focused on painful areas set within the spine. Symptom-relief chiropractors temporarily reduce pain, free misaligned or stuck bones, and decompress joints.

One reason why patients gravitate toward symptom-relief chiropractors is that they tend to work with more insurance companies. So check your policy because it may cover these types of traditional adjustments. However, remember that to remain pain-free requires regular visits and an extended treatment plan. Many chiropractors advise against only persuing symptom-relief practices. Instead, many practitioners recommend combining regular adjustments with wellness therapy.

Wellness Chiropractors

Wellness chiropractors use traditional adjustments and techniques to relieve pain, but they also focus on long-term healing of the body. Daily life can stress the body, specifically the spinal column. After so many weeks or years of built-up pressure, small misalignments or fixations can occur. These issues result in pain that can lead to more severe symptoms if left untreated. 

Unlike a symptom-relief-only focus, wellness chiropractors continue treatment beyond feelings of pain to keep the body regenerating and healing itself. They also use healthy eating, exercise, hydration, and mental health to support the body. If you’re looking to relieve symptoms of pain quickly, but also help the body in long-term healing, then wellness chiropractic care is the better choice. 

You’ll often find other professionals in wellness chiropractic offices, such as a dietician, a massage therapist, or a personal trainer. Additionally, you may use tools at home, such as foam neck extenders or specialized pillows. All-in-all, wellness chiropractors use a more holistic view to heal the entire body.

Sports Chiropractors

Those who are athletes can visit a chiropractor specific to sports. Sports chiropractors work with those who develop pain and injury from their careers in athleticism. You may be surprised to learn that many professional teams use sports chiropractors to assist with injuries on and off the field. That’s because they can use symptom-relief techniques immediately, while also focusing on wellness methods. 

Sports chiropractors use their knowledge to focus on sports performance. They are well-informed about how different wellness benefits, such as diet, exercise, training, and conditioning, can enhance athletic achievement. They also use adjustments for symptom relief and to encourage natural healing and regeneration in the body when injuries occur.

Family Chiropractors – Facts vs. Myths

Family chiropractic care can be difficult to understand, as there are many myths and rumors that confuse its patients and those seeking treatment. As a popular and beneficial medical practice, it’s important to understand the facts of chiropractic care. Let’s start with the two biggest myths surrounding chiropractors and chiropractic medicine.

Myth #1: Family Chiropractic care isn’t real medicine and chiropractors aren’t real doctors.

Just like any medical student, chiropractors study challenging courses and earn their degrees from accredited institutions. When they finish their program, they are equipped with the knowledge that allows them to practice medicine as primary care doctors, if they wish. Of course, many opt to work in chiropractic care, combining their work with extensive medical knowledge of the entire body. And just as other doctors, chiropractors must complete a residency program and pass exams.

Myth #2: If you go to the chiropractor once, you’ll have to continue care for the rest of your life.

Family chiropractic care is meant to be healing, which means you and your chiropractor will create a treatment plan that has an end goal. No treatment is meant to last forever, although chiropractic care can involve regular adjustments to keep your body functioning at its best. Just like with any doctor, you’ll still want to return from time-to-time for check-ups. 

Now that you better understand the two biggest myths of family chiropractic care, let’s look at some other misconceptions that tend to confuse patients. 

Myth #3: Chiropractic care is only for back and neck pain. 

In today’s modern chiropractic office, you’ll find a variety of doctors and specialists. This is because chiropractic care focuses on the entire health of the body. While your treatment plan will most likely include regular adjustments to correct issues with the back and neck, you may also see a personal trainer, a massage therapist, and a nutritionist, amongst others. 

Myth #4: Chiropractic care is dangerous and can damage your body.

See Myth #1. Your chiropractor is a well-educated, trained doctor who will never intentionally try to hurt you. With extensive knowledge of the spine, bones, and muscles, your doctor knows how to move and adjust your body for the best results. Nothing is ever forced or dangerous. 

Myth #5: Only adults should visit the chiropractor. 

Family chiropractic care is exactly as it sounds: for the family. After consulting X-rays and symptoms, doctors make individualized treatment plans that are specific to the patient, regardless of age or body type. Many chiropractic techniques are modified to support patients of a younger age.

Myth #6: If I go to the chiropractor, I’ll be in pain.

Chiropractic care is meant to be healing and many patients feel pain relief after their first adjustment. In fact, one of the most commonly used descriptions of post-treatment is a feeling of “lightness”. Those suffering from extreme cases may take longer to feel this sense of relief, but it eventually comes for all patients who follow their treatment plans.

What is Massage Therapy

Have you ever had a massage? If not, we recommend you schedule a “self-care Sunday” in your near future. Massages are great for stress reduction and relaxation. However, they can be more than that when massage therapy is brought into the mix. 

What is a Massage?

In general, a message is a trained professional who puts degrees of pressure on the soft tissues in your body—things like your muscles, connective tissues, tendons, ligaments, and skin. There are dozens of types of massages, including the famous Swedish massage or even a deep tissue massage. Each has a goal; for example, the deep tissue will put higher levels of pressure and movement to reach the muscles and tissues deep in your body. 

What is Massage Therapy? 

Massage therapy is a type of massage. In this massage technique, a massage therapist will use therapeutic massage techniques to reduce or eliminate chronic low back pain, stress, and other issues.

The effectiveness of massage therapy is strange and not wholly understood – even if accepted. Massage therapy falls into the alternative part of complementary and alternative medicine. It’s not what people usually think of when they think of medicine, but it works nonetheless. 

How Does Massage Therapy Help?

Our bodies are amazing machines – completely stopped in their tracks by stress and pain. However, what may surprise you is the effect stress has on healing and the body. While a massage will never cure a cancer patient, it can help them to reduce their stress and pain. 

Go back to a regular massage for a moment. When you get any type of massage, the goal is to relax and stretch your muscles. This process often makes people fall asleep – the first sign they are distressing. 

Now, massage therapy is done by trained doctors who understand various health conditions and risks. Variations like the sports massage can focus on getting your relaxed and recuperate before a big game. At the same time, other types can heal, reduce the stress and pain of cancer, heart disease, and stomach problems. 

Is It an Effective Treatment? 

That depends on what you plan to achieve from the treatment. If you want to mend broken bones or heal health issues, no. However, if you’re going to reduce stress, increase flexibility, and – in some cases – reduce pain, then the answer is yes. 

Modern health care is more than accepting of the benefits of massage therapy. In addition, it’s got plenty of good with minimal side effects that usually pass, revealing overall increases in health and wellness.

Similar to Chiropractic Care

In many ways, getting a massage is a lot like going to the chiropractor (after all, you’re reading this blog!) Massage therapists and chiropractors understand the body and how each muscle is connected to the bones and tissues around it. Using this understanding, we can manipulate your skeleton and help you feel better. 

Visit us today!