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| 2008 Olympic swimmers use cupping for muscle strain and tension |
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Pro athletes who use acupuncture for recovery and performance enhancement include tennis player Maria Sharapova, Iron man champions Paula Newby-Fraser and Dave Scott; the NBA: Yao Ming, Allan Houston, and Shaquille O'Neal, MLB: Vernon Wells, Chan Ho Park, and David Cone; NFL players Steve Young, Jerry Rice, Matt Hasselbeck, Regan Upshaw, Marcellus Wiley, Will Demps, and Brian Russell; golfers Michele Wie and Fred Couples, and Olympic speed skater Kevin Overland, as well as many championship racehorses.
Acupuncture can decrease your down-time from injury and heal minor tissue damage before it turns into a major, debilitating injury. It works by decreasing swelling, bruising and muscle spasms, while improving blood supply to the affected area and increasing the range of motion. Acupuncture also triggers the body to create its own natural painkillers, anti-inflammatory and anti-stress hormones. Herbs can be added to enhance the healing process.
Acupuncture and traditional sports medicine techniques are complementary. I encourage patients to pursue standard physical rehabilitation with muscle strengthening, stretching, massage and more to help you return to your optimal performance levels.
Athletes can benefit from monthly sessions with extra sessions to heal injuries as needed. Injuries typically require two or three acupuncture treatments a week, with recovery time depending on your specific injury. It is best to start your sessions in the off season, and continue therapy throughout your training. Doing it this way this enables you to prevent injuries in the first place.
Injuries treated include:
- Muscle contusions
- Knee pain
- Foot and heel pain
- Shin splints
- Hip pain/hip flexor strain
- Hamstring strain
- Calf pain/cramps
- Ankle pain/strain
- Shoulder and rotator cuff injuries
- Neck and back pain and sciatica
- Elbow pain
- Wrist strain
- Numbness/ tingling
- Post operative healing
Your mental state can be just as important in competitive sports as your physical well being. Since acupuncture induces a calming affect on the mind, regular treatments can give you an enormous psychological as well as physical advantage, and help with
- Prevention of injury
- Performance anxiety
- Insomnia
- Improve balance and agility
- Boosting your immune system
In a study published in the British Journal of Rheumatology, researchers performed acupuncture on 48 people who had suffered tennis elbow for at least two months. The acupuncture group said their pain decreased by 55%, but only 15% for people who received a sham treatment.
In 1993, the National Institutes of Health Consensus Conference on Acupuncture said: "The data in support of acupuncture are as strong as those for many accepted Western medical therapies. One of the advantages of acupuncture is that the incidence of adverse side effects is substantially lower than that of many drugs or other medical procedures used for the same conditions."
Acupuncture should not be performed within 6 hours of vigorous physical activity, as you may be too relaxed to function! See your doctor first if you have active bleeding, suspected fracture, or a head injury. With new injuries I may not actually treat at the site, but at distal points.
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