Swimmers Glide Fast and Injury-Free With Chiropractic
By Chris Brown
This year's Olympics have once again brought swimming back to the forefront of the public conscious. Watching American swimmers compete against the world may inspire you to dig out your swimming goggles and paddle a few laps at your local pool. Before diving into the water, you might want to know about the benefits of chiropractic on swimming performance and injury recovery (should you push it too hard, too fast). While many serious swimmers without injury benefit competitively from visits to the chiropractor, it is also a highly successful, and cost-effective, treatment for the most common swimming injury.
Improving Lap Times With Chiropractic
Even if uninjured, chiropractic may be able to boost your performance in the pool. Chiropractors are skilled at correcting subluxations in the spine that optimize the central nervous system. This benefits vital skills for swimming such as lung capacity and brain-body communication. A honed nervous system also lets your body signal for oxygen quicker and expedite the oxygen's transportation to the muscles. Additionally, a flexible spine and good posture is important in the water, where the entire body must twist freely and water drag is dependent upon the body's aerodynamics. While swimming is a relatively injury-free sport, there are cases of joint and muscular injuries that can be treated by chiropractic. The most common of them is aptly named "swimmer's shoulder."
Chiropractic Treatment of Swimmer's Shoulder
The repeated swimming-stroke motion of forcibly swinging the arm through water increases the potential for overuse injuries, such as swimmer's shoulder. Swimmer's shoulder results from small, muscle-strain tears in the tendons and muscles of the shoulder. These tears cause pain in the shoulder and prevent full motion, eventually resulting in complete rotator cuff or labral tears.
Chiropractic helps swimmer's shoulder recovery by adjusting the joint to induce correct healing and remove the tendon strain caused by improper movement. Of 35 shoulder and rotator cuff injury articles reviewed in one 2011 review from Cleveland Chiropractic College, a fair level of evidence was found for chiropractic as a successful treatment for shoulder injuries. Another Swiss review reported that patients had greater satisfaction ratings, equal or better pain relief, and lower overall cost if they consulted with a chiropractor before their primary care physician. Chiropractic care of swimmer's shoulder may be able to reduce required medication or prevent future surgery. If surgery is required, chiropractic manual manipulation therapy can restore the movement and range-of-motion that's particularly important for swimmers.
Visit The Joint Chiropractic if you experience shoulder pain while swimming or simply want to increase your performance in the water. Sessions are affordable without insurance, so there is no financial risk to trying chiropractic for yourself. The Joint also welcomes walk-in patients, which is convenient in the event of an overuse injury or sudden pain.
To learn more about your health, wellness and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Madison, Ala.