HOW INTEGRATIVE HEALTH CAN HELP ATHLETES

Few people understand the rigors of exercise and stress to the body like athletes. And all athletes who play sports are constantly aiming for top performance. But our bodies, like our minds, have limits. They can only take so much strain. However, with innovative integrative health solutions, athletes have been able to achieve better performance and get optimal performance out of their bodies. That leads to more success, more happiness, and a greater overall sense of well-being. After all, they say if you look good, and you feel good, then you play good.

LifeWorks Integrative Health can’t help you with your looks, but we can certainly help you feel better. Our integrative health wellness centers in Shawnee and Overland Park have experienced staff who implement functional medicine as well as physical medicine solutions to help our clients experience health and happiness in all aspects.

From chiropractic care to physical rehab services to nutrition management, LifeWorks Integrative Health can help athletes with customized health services to aid in pain management, increased range of motion, injury prevention and recovery, and much more. Here’s how we do it.

Pain Management

Pain takes many forms when it comes to the bodies of athletes. From sore legs and sore backs to knee pain and muscle strains to shoulder sprains and more, athletes experience it all due to their constant strenuous active lifestyles.

The demands of playing any sport are high and affect different areas of the body.

Chiropractic care is known to aid in back pain relief, spinal alignment, and even joint pain relief. Adjustments by a chiropractor can also help relieve pain in the body’s musculoskeletal structures, including many overworked ligaments, muscles, joints, joint capsules, and more. By properly aligning your spine and its surrounding structures, your internal balance can be restored and your body can properly heal itself. And while chiropractic maintenance is one key to pain management, there are also other options available through integrative health. Joint injections can be a great alternative to harmful medications or invasive surgery that can leave an athlete sidelined for weeks, months, or even years.

Joint injections, like those offered by LifeWorks Integrative Health, reduce the pain-causing inflammation in your joints so that you can begin receiving the proper nutrients to your ligaments and tissue to begin the healing process. These targeted injections go to work on the affected area efficiently and naturally so that athletes can avoid going under the knife whenever possible.

Increased Range of Motion

Having range of motion is crucial for athletes. Stretching on a regular basis is a great way to improve range of motion and thus maximize performance on your own, but if an injury occurs it can cause you to lose out on some of that motion you had previously. With routine chiropractic care, you can get back on the right path through adjustments and stretches that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to do on your own.

Additionally, trigger point injections can also help reduce pain and improve range of motion in specific areas of muscle, such as the lower back, arms, and legs. Trigger points often form when an area’s myofascial tissue becomes tightened and creates a knot. This occurs after injury or even improper posture. Trigger point injections, then, are a safe and natural way to loosen these areas of muscle and tissue to improve your range of motion after an injury without resorting to things like muscle relaxers. Then, with the help of stretching and possibly physical rehab, you can get back to the field, court, mat, or pool quickly and better than before.

Injury Prevention and Recovery

The best way to keep your body up and running as best as possible is to avoid injury. Easier said than done, right? But with the aforementioned integrative health solutions like chiropractic adjustments, stretching, and other techniques, injury prevention can be possible. However, what happens when in injury does occur? Where can you turn?

Same answer: An integrative health specialist.

At LifeWorks, we can work with you to develop a physical rehabilitation plan to help you regain your health and physical ability after an injury.

Proper physical rehab can help you improve balance, increase and regain strength, improve flexibility, and boost your range of motion after an injury so that you can heal properly and return to action as soon as possible. Proper rehab can also prevent more injuries in the future, thus cutting down on the time you’re missing participating in athletics.

Give LifeWorks Integrative Health a call today to see how we can help you be the best athlete you can be.