In a
recent post, I wrote about how massage can help speed recovery after a sports injury. And while massage is probably the most commonly used method for pain relief, acupuncture is another great modality for speeding recovery which can also improve performance and give athletes a competitive edge.
Erik Smith, an acupuncturist here in Santa Barbara, wrote about how Olympic gold medalist Kerri Walsh used acupuncture to recover from lingering pain following rotator cuff surgery last year on his blog
here. Smith said Walsh used it on a daily basis while she was in Beijing. He points to this
article which describes some of the ways that acupuncture may benefit athletes.
According to the article, acupuncture enhances athletic performance by increasing blood flow to certain areas of the body. One of the studies mentioned, published in the January, 2008 issue of the Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine, examined the effects of acupuncture on male cyclists.
The riders, who were between 18 and 30 years of age, met three times a week to ride a stationary bicycle for 20 kilometers as fast as possible. Before they rode, the volunteers received either acupuncture, sham acupuncture (a shallow needling of known acupoints) or no acupuncture.
The researchers found that the men who received the acupuncture treatment completed their cycling tests at a higher acceleration than those who received sham acupuncture or no acupuncture at all.
The article states that acupuncture is also effective for treating sports related injuries and pain. It can be used to "help decrease swelling, spasms and inflammation...and to control pain, increase range of motion and help promote healing." One of the reasons that acupuncture is so effective is that "the focus is not only to treat the injury but also to treat any underlying conditions that may predispose an individual to injuries."
Here's a list of some of the injuries that can be treated with acupuncture: muscle pull, neck pain, shoulder impingement, tennis elbow, lower back strain, groin pull, hamstring strain, runner's knee, shin splints, ankle sprain, Achilles tendonitis and arch pain.
If you're suffering from any of these chronic conditions you might want to check out acupuncture, especially if these injuries are affecting your athletic performance or the activities of your daily life. And if you live in Santa Barbara, I highly recommend Erik Smith.
Erik Smith, an acupuncturist here in Santa Barbara, wrote about how Olympic gold medalist Kerri Walsh used acupuncture to recover from lingering pain following rotator cuff surgery last year on his blog here. Smith said Walsh used it on a daily basis while she was in Beijing. He points to this article which describes some of the ways that acupuncture may benefit athletes.
According to the article, acupuncture enhances athletic performance by increasing blood flow to certain areas of the body. One of the studies mentioned, published in the January, 2008 issue of the Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine, examined the effects of acupuncture on male cyclists.
The riders, who were between 18 and 30 years of age, met three times a week to ride a stationary bicycle for 20 kilometers as fast as possible. Before they rode, the volunteers received either acupuncture, sham acupuncture (a shallow needling of known acupoints) or no acupuncture.
The researchers found that the men who received the acupuncture treatment completed their cycling tests at a higher acceleration than those who received sham acupuncture or no acupuncture at all.
The article states that acupuncture is also effective for treating sports related injuries and pain. It can be used to "help decrease swelling, spasms and inflammation...and to control pain, increase range of motion and help promote healing." One of the reasons that acupuncture is so effective is that "the focus is not only to treat the injury but also to treat any underlying conditions that may predispose an individual to injuries."
Here's a list of some of the injuries that can be treated with acupuncture: muscle pull, neck pain, shoulder impingement, tennis elbow, lower back strain, groin pull, hamstring strain, runner's knee, shin splints, ankle sprain, Achilles tendonitis and arch pain.
If you're suffering from any of these chronic conditions you might want to check out acupuncture, especially if these injuries are affecting your athletic performance or the activities of your daily life. And if you live in Santa Barbara, I highly recommend Erik Smith.