Your Favorite Professional Athletes Use Chiropractic Care — Here’s Why

If you’re wondering why athletes use chiropractors, you must already know that every NFL team, every NBA franchise, 28 MLB teams, hundreds of World Cup soccer players and dozens of the world’s top tennis players, Olympic gymnasts and World Games teams all have a Doctor of Chiropractic (DC) on their care team.  

That’s because they’ve learned that non-invasive, evidence-based chiropractic treatment helps to improve performance. 

One of the greatest wide receivers of all time, Hall of Famer Jerry Rice, has been a spokesperson for the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress. DCs have been included on the U.S. medical team in every Olympic and Pan-American Games since 1980. 

Professional athletes rely on routine natural, non-invasive drug-free chiropractic care to relieve pain and enhance performance by improving flexibility and mobility. Staying in top chiropractic shape helps them prevent injury by aligning their musculoskeletal system for smooth, fluid movement that doesn’t strain their bodies unnecessarily, so they don’t exert extra energy and can accomplish more on the field.

How Chiropractic Care Improves Flexibility

One of the most critical components of athletic success is flexibility — the ability of a muscle or muscle group to lengthen passively through a range of motion.   Whether it is running on a track, making a basket, catching a fly ball, swinging a baseball bat, tennis racket or golf club, you need your joint muscles to move smoothly in unison if you want to win.  

A Doctor of Chiropractic examines your body’s kinetic chain of movement to discover areas of restriction that may be disrupting that game-winning fluidity. Maintaining optimal body mechanics is critical — one little shift in posture can dramatically alter your movement, which, over time, can cause inflammation and lead to serious injury.  

Biomechanically speaking, how chiropractic care improves flexibility is by realigning and optimizing your musculoskeletal system for fluid movement, which provides strength, balance and coordination.  

After performing your adjustment, your DC will present you with your customized active therapy protocol. These exercises and stretching techniques will be assigned for each muscle group and/or joint that is damaged, weakened or misaligned.  Your care team will also share heat and ice application tips and even proper footwear recommendations for your activity and intensity type.  

How Chiropractic Care Improves Mobility 

Mobility is the ability of a joint to move actively through a range of motion — not only how far muscles stretch over a joint, but also how far the joint moves within the joint capsule. Mobility reflects the motor control within your nervous system. 

An athlete may have excellent flexibility (strength, balance, and coordination) but lack good mobility and be unable to perform the movements required to excel at a sport — like lifting and rotating a leg to kick a soccer ball in the direction of the goal.  

Chiropractic care improves mobility by helping you extend how far a muscle can stretch and how far a joint can stretch within its capsule by aligning them into their optimal position — the position of least resistance for your body’s natural arc of movement.  

Along with your adjustment protocol, your DC will prescribe an active therapy protocol with customized mobility exercises to help you strategically build and maintain joint mobility for all your athletic feats — at your optimal pace.  Finding a reputable chiropractor that’s right for you will help you determine that optimal pace and treatment plan duration. 

How Chiropractic Care Helps Prevent Sports Injuries

Many athletes choose to seek chiropractic care when they have suffered an injury.

The optimal care plan for both preventing, managing and treating sports injuries includes the neuro-musculoskeletal synergy between both targeted chiropractic adjustments and customized active therapies. By adhering to both elements of your care plan you’ll be able to strive for optimal function (and enjoyment). 

Chiropractic care can relieve common symptoms like these: 

• Pain and discomfort 
• Tension and stiffness 
• Inflammation  
• Reduced range of motion 
• Tingling 
• Paresthesia 
• Low energy 

Your DC can alleviate and prevent sports injury by aligning your spine, restoring optimal joint mobility and removing nerve interference.  

Proper spinal health can reduce inflammation, improve blood circulation, reduce pain and tension in muscles, all of which improve the body’s ability to heal itself. 

Now that you know how chiropractic care prevents sports injuries you can follow the example of professional athletes and find a DC who can help you improve your performance as well. 

Check in with your nearest Chiro One doc at one of our welcoming open-plan clinics across the country. They’ll perform a thorough exam to investigate the root cause of your pain, then personalize your care plan — a combination of gentle chiropractic adjustments and active therapies so you can feel better faster. 

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