During Football Season, Chiropractic Can Tackle Your Pain

By Paul Rothbart

When summer starts winding down, people’s thoughts turn to fall. Cooler weather, warmer clothing, and the beloved pumpkin spice are on the horizon. For athletes and sports fans, it’s a changing of seasons and the beginning of the most popular fall sport, football.

NFL teams are in camp with an eye on the Lombardi Trophy. College programs think this is their year to win the National Championship. And high school teams are drilling into the heads of players that titles are won “one game at a time.”

Yet all that optimism can get intercepted with a bad break. In particular, an injury. In a sport in which linemen need to block, skill players need to execute, and defensive players need to tackle, an injury at any position could change a team’s fortunes. Star or not, everyone is valuable -- even the backups who push the starters in practice.

Injuries diminish the overall performance of the team. The training and medical staff is charged with helping to treat and prevent injuries. A key member of every team’s staff is a chiropractor.

Back to School and Back to Sports

The end of summer also means back to school. Kids return to the schedule of classes, studying, and taking tests. For student athletes, it’s also back to practice and taking on local rivals from other schools.

High school athletes participate in a variety of sports as varied as wrestling, soccer, and swimming. But football is king in most towns.

Many communities take great pride in their local high school football team. On Friday nights or Saturday afternoons, students, faculty, parents, and even locals who don’t have kids in school fill high school stadiums to root on their teen gridiron heroes.

Although the kids don’t play near the level of the pros, they do compete with intensity. Winning is a source of pride, and for some players, it’s an opportunity for a college scholarship and a better future. But prep athletes can, and do, suffer injuries. For that matter, so do younger players in Pop Warner and other youth football leagues. These kids need treatment and prevention as much as their NFL counterparts.

What Injuries Are Prone to Affect Football Players?

Football at any level is a sport in which players move fast, change direction quickly, jump, throw, kick, and catch. Did we mention the contact? Yes, football players hit and get hit. Offensive and defensive linemen are making contact on every play. It’s no surprise that injuries are so common.

Injuries are not exclusive to professionals. Amateur, semi-pro, and even recreational players who compete in touch football leagues suffer injuries. For the very young athlete, injuries are less common. However, by the time football players reach high school, they are big enough and strong enough to inflict harm on themselves and each other.

The most common injuries in high school football are to parts of the musculoskeletal system, especially the lower body. Calf, ankle, and foot injuries top the list. Ligament sprains are frequently suffered by high schoolers and fortunately, these are often treated with ice, compression, elevation, and rest.

One of the problems more common to young players is fractures. Adolescent bones have not reached full maturity and the growth plates at the ends are vulnerable. Tears to knee ligaments, so common in the NFL, also happen to young players.

The scariest and potentially most dangerous is a head injury. Players are taught not to lead with their heads while blocking and tackling, but it does happen in the heat of a game. Slamming the head into an opponent can cause serious neck and head injuries, and a helmet-to-helmet collision may cause significant damage to both players.

Concussions are one of the worst injuries any player can suffer. They have immediate and often long-lasting effects. Concussions have been linked to depression and cognitive decline. Proper prevention methods and treatment are essential. This is why the NFL has adopted its concussion protocols.

How Can Chiropractic Help With Symptoms of Concussion?

Concussions are usually caused by a blow to the head that violently shakes the brain. They are considered a “mild” brain injury but they can have severe consequences, especially if they are not treated properly. An examination and treatment by a doctor are vital even if the injured player does not seem to be showing symptoms.

In addition to treatments from a medical doctor, chiropractic care may be helpful to the management of symptoms of a concussion as well as recovery. In order to heal itself, the body needs good blood flow to the injured areas. This includes the bruised parts of the brain that occur due to a concussion.

Chiropractors align the spine, which may facilitate a number of things to help reduce the recovery time for concussion, including improved nerve communication, restoration of joint movement, and improved posture. Because chiropractors do not use drugs, their treatments enhance the body’s natural healing process and there is no risk of pharmaceutical side effects or addiction.

Can High School Athletes Benefit from Chiropractic Care?

Concussions aren’t the only type of injury or pain management that chiropractors can help with. The benefits are not limited to football players. Regular chiropractic care can help athletes of all ages in all sports.

Preventing Injuries

One of the greatest benefits of a young athlete seeing a chiropractor is that it can help prevent injuries and help him make plays. Adjustments improve joint mobility and range of motion, both of which make it less likely to suffer a ligament tear or pull. Having full range of motion also increases the chances of the athlete reaching his full potential to make a play, whether it’s making a spin move to escape a tackler or extend fully in a dive to catch a ball or make a shoestring tackle. Regular treatments also may help improve coordination as properly aligned spine and joints will have greater flexibility and full range of motion, which promotes quicker responses to the signals it gets from the brain. Many injuries occur because of poor technique; better coordination reduces that risk.

Relief of Pain

Proper precautions reduce the risk but injuries are always a possibility in competitive sports. Pain is part of the healing process and relieving and managing it are an important part of treatment. Medications can be helpful but often have side effects; as well, they can be addictive. Chiropractic treatments may reduce pain naturally by helping parts of the body work together the way they were intended.

Reduced Recovery Time

When injuries happen, athletes want to get back in the game as soon as they can. High schoolers tend to be more impatient than adults. Returning to the lineup before fully healing is asking for trouble. By increasing blood flow, and removing pressure on the spinal nerves, chiropractic treatments may speed up the healing process and injury recovery. It’s a good way to get young athletes safely back to their teammates.

Improved Performance

A chiropractor can find and adjust subluxations in the spine to help improve nervous system response, thereby speeding up reflexes. Adjustments aim to restore the full range of motion of the joints. This can boost an athlete’s performance significantly. For a strong endorsement of chiropractic care, look no further than Tom Brady and Joe Montana, arguably the two greatest quarterbacks in NFL history. Both credit chiropractic with contributing to their incredibly successful careers.

Useful Tips to Aid the Health of Athletes

An athletic trainer versed in sports medicine is an asset to any team. When an injury happens, they can help create a treatment plan and schedule a consultation with a medical professional. Of course, the best way to deal with an injury is to prevent it in the first place.

Warming Up

Prior to any training session, practice, scrimmage, or game, a high school football player needs to warm up. Start by stretching the entire body and adding light calisthenics or jogging. This loosens the muscles and joints, gets the blood flowing, and warms up the body. Cold, tight muscles are prone to pulls and tears. Warming up properly greatly reduces that risk.

Hydration

Physical exertion causes sweat, so it’s extremely important to stay hydrated. Drink plenty of water before, during, and after any kind of athletic activity. Dehydration increases the risk of injury and illness. Water is the best fluid but sports drinks can hydrate while also providing electrolytes. Be sure to read the labels because many brands are loaded with sugar.

Eat Well

An athlete’s body needs fuel to perform well and stay healthy. A proper diet of lean proteins, complex carbohydrates, and plenty of fruits and vegetables will provide the necessary nutrients. Avoid fats, sugars, and processed foods.

Good Sleep

A tough workout or game will take a lot out of you. Good sleep is essential. This is when the body repairs and restores itself while repairing muscle tissue. A young athlete needs 8-9 hours of solid sleep each night. It’s a major contributor to peak performance.

The Joint Chiropractic and the Tampa Bay Bucs

For high school football players and parents who would like to find out how seeing a chiropractor can help with their game and health, The Joint Chiropractic has numerous clinics located throughout the U.S. You don’t need an appointment to stop in for an exam and treatment. The Joint Chiropractic has been named an official chiropractor of the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers. If they can help the pros, they can certainly help high school gridiron stars.

High school sports are fun activities that contribute to the education of young people. As with any physical activity, injuries are always a possibility. Take the steps to prevent injury as well as maximize performance and fun. Consider stopping by The Joint Chiropractic in your neighborhood to reap the benefits that so many athletes enjoy.

The information, including but not limited to, text, graphics, images and other material contained on this page are for informational purposes only. The purpose of this post is to promote broad consumer understanding and knowledge of various health topics, including but not limited to the benefits of chiropractic care, exercise and nutrition. It is not intended to provide or be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your chiropractor, physician or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment and before undertaking a new health care regimen, and never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this page.