What kind of athlete goes to an acupuncturist?

How about NFL players like the Jets’ Tony Richardson, James Farrior, Chad Pennington, or how about NHL great Jaromir Jagr?  How about Olympic Gold medalist McKayla Maroney.  Or Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade, Dwight Howard, or Chandler Parsons in the NBA?  There’s a reason why professional athletes use acupuncture…. it works quickly, without side effects, to get them back on the court or playing field.  Big money is at stake here, and the powerful athletes of professional sports need quick help.

HOW DOES ACUPUNCTURE WORK FOR ATHLETES?

Acupuncture meets the needs of the athlete/triathlete by providing powerfully effective, personalized, non-pharmaceutical and non-surgical care in the areas your body needs it most. Put simply, acupuncture works.

  1. Injuries are prevented by promoting neurological and cardiovascular balance and supporting homeostasis;
  2. Should an injury arise, acupuncture regulates nerve conduction and microcirculation in the area of inflammation to speed the healing process;
  3. Working at the source of the pain, acupuncture decreases inflammation and helps to increase range of motion. It also works to decrease pain by stimulating endogenous opioids, or endorphins, to provide rapid, and often long-lasting, relief. Patients usually feel relief after the first treatment;
  4. Energy and endurance issues are addressed by addressing liver and lung function, as well as the digestive system;
  5. Post-race acupuncture treatments minimize muscle fatigue and pain, enhance energy, and facilitate rapid recovery. This is especially important for the serious athlete with many races within a relatively short time frame
  6. Athletic enhancement treatments fine-tune your strength, coordination, speed, efficiency, and power. This treatment maximizes your athletic abilities by corralling your energy where you need it most.

Whether as a preventative, a mitigating force or a cure, acupuncture stimulates your internal resources against disability and pain. It is an invaluable regimen, one that manages the body’s built-in arsenal to protect itself. By accessing your own physiological response, acupuncture is the perfect adjunct to athletic training: while being medically effective, it is has no harmful side-effects and can be used regularly for a lifetime. And isn’t that how long you’d like to remain physically active?  Professional and serious amateur athletes worldwide use acupuncture to both manage and prevent injuries, relieve pain, and regulate the nervous system for optimal physiologic function. Studies conducted by the US National Institutes of Health, the World Health Organization and research bodies worldwide have consistently shown that Acupuncture is a safe and effective tool to use in dealing with pain and treating injury all over the body, as well as supporting optimal wellness. Schedule an appointment today to discuss your particular goals and needs–We look forward to being a part of your training team.

Other benefits for athletes include:

  1. Pain relief: Acupuncture is well known for its powerful ability to reduce and often eliminate pain. This is a huge attraction for athletes who are plagued by strain and injury. Using acupuncture to relieve pain, the athletes never have to worry about experiencing side effects from pharmaceutical drugs or failing a drug test. How does acupuncture alleviate pain?There are several studies which have shown that when needles are inserted, they stimulate points that boost our natural painkillers. In one study, researchers at the University of Michigan (published by University of Michigan Health System in Journal of Neuro-Image, Vol. 5, No. 83, 2009) found acupuncture affected the brain’s long-term ability to regulate pain.
  2. Muscle relaxation: Athletes train for thousands of hours which is punishing to their bodies. Acupuncture reduces soreness from workouts and increases blood flow throughout the body. This helps athletes get ready for another day by relaxing their tight muscles and reducing inflammation
  3. Faster healing: When an athlete has to skip training or miss a competition, precious time is lost. Acupuncture helps injuries to heal faster so athletes do not miss valuable training time.
  4. Energy enhancement and better sleep: Acupuncture boosts athletes’ energy when they are awake and helps them to sleep at night. The body repairs itself at night so sleeping well is vital to a good performance.
  5. Improved blood flow: Acupuncture increases the amount of nitric oxide in the body.  A study from UCLA Medical Center (Responses of Nitric Oxide-cGMP Release in Acupuncture Point to Electroacupuncture in Human Skin In Vivo Using Dermal Microdialysis. In Microcirculation, 2009 May, 26:1-10) concludes that one reason acupuncture is effective is because the needles increase the release of nitric oxide throughout the body. Nitric Oxide causes the blood vessels to relax and to widen, thereby opening up the arteries. This allows better blood flow to the heart and your other important organs.

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