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New York, NY
Sports Medicine / Fitness
10/16/2019
What to Know about Chiropractic Treatments for Runners – Guide
Chiropractic For Running Injuries
Most professional runners and running enthusiasts see a chiropractor for a number of reasons. Chiropractors are meant to provide rehabilitation care to running athletes. Not only do they treat the runners’ injuries and reduce pain, but they also ensure their bodies’ and overall health are in optimal condition. For this reason, chiropractic healthcare should be incorporated into sports training and performance.
Here’s what you need to know about different chiropractic treatments for runners and how they help.
Sports Injury, Physical Assessment, and Recovery
Most athletes are prone to having injuries due to their extensive training and level of performance. Even runners aren’t exempted from getting injuries at one point or another in their careers. They get typical injuries such as runner’s knee, stress fracture, shin splint, Achilles tendinopathy, and muscle pull, among others. When an injury occurs, the recovery period can often be quite challenging. Even hours of physical therapy won’t do enough. While physical therapy helps in recovering strength in soft tissue and muscle, sports-medicine trained chiropractors can improve the mobility of your joints after an injury. Here’s what sports chiropractors examine and assess:
- How you move
- How you stand
- How the arch of your foot looks like
- How your knees are aligned
- How your hips are aligned
The sports chiropractor will then assess the runner to recommend treatment after the examination.
Chiropractic Treatments for Runners
When it comes to sports chiropractic treatments, there are four main treatments for running injuries, as follows:
- Active Release Technique (ART): This is a combination of massage and stretching, which treats the body’s soft tissue by using manipulation and movement. ART is performed by applying deep tension while moving a joint through its range of motion. It entails identifying, isolating, and targeting the affected area to break up scar tissue, which promotes blood flow and faster healing periods.
- Graston Technique: This is a form of manual therapy known as soft-tissue instrument-assisted mobilization. It is used to break down surface-level scar tissue with hand-held stainless steel tools. It is one of several manual therapy approaches that uses instruments with a specialized form of massage or scraping the skin gently.
- Functional Dry Needling: This is a skilled intervention using a thin filiform needle to penetrate the skin. It stimulates the underlying myofascial trigger points, muscular, and connective tissues for the management of neuromusculoskeletal pain and movement impairments. As it releases tension in trigger points, this treatment helps the psoas muscle, a hip flexor muscle.
- Electrical Muscle Stimulation (EMS): This is also known as neuromuscular electrical stimulation or electromyostimulation. It involves the elicitation of muscle contraction using electric impulses, resulting in released tension through the stimulation of surface muscles.
Sports Chiropractor in NYC
Chiropractic care is meant to examine the whole body and align it for optimum balance. The adjustments are often part of a runner’s training program to strengthen and improve overall performance. The four chiropractic treatments mentioned above have different approaches in treating the athletes’ injuries. However, they all bring significant changes to the body’s condition. That said, runners can prevent injury and promote optimal performance through the regular care of a sports-trained chiropractor.
If you are looking for a sports chiropractor in NYC to help you stay in optimal shape, get in touch with Launchfit today!
10/10/2019
Why Chiropractic Care Is The Best Solution For Golfer’s Elbow
Golfer’s elbow is a physical condition that affects millions of lives, not only golfers. From violinists to tennis players, golfer’s elbow can affect people who perform physically taxing tasks as part of their livelihoods. Though many people understand this subject with varying degrees of knowledge, what is golfer’s elbow actually?
Golfer’s elbow explained
To put it simply, golfer’s elbow is a condition that manifests in people who overuse their muscles consecutively, resulting in pain inside the elbow and forearm. However, compared to other physical conditions involving the elbow, golfer’s elbow is characterized by severe pain that doesn’t go away without treatment.
In most cases, golfer’s elbow limits regular functions that involve the use of the joints and various muscles inside your elbow caused constant inflammation, resulting in pain in doing simple tasks like squeezing or typing. Most cases of golfer’s elbow occur because the muscles do not have sufficient time to recover, subsequently resulting in significant damage.
Treatment options for golfer’s elbow generally consist of costly medication and surgery. In spite of higher treatment costs, surgery, and medicines that are offered to treat golfer’s elbow are still regarded as ineffective in the long run.
Chiropractic care as an effective alternative treatment method
Although this may seem discouraging, chiropractic care is an alternative that has shown dramatic improvements in curing the condition.
With the help of chiropractic care and other alternative treatments, those who suffer this condition have been able to see drastic changes in their conditions, being able to return to regular functions within months. Aside from eliminating any potentially harmful side effects that come with prescription medications and surgery, chiropractic care also provides a non-invasive treatment method.
An overview of chiropractic treatment for golfer’s elbow
To better understand how chiropractic care can help with alleviating golfer’s elbow and why it’s so effective in the first place, we will go over a few things that take place during the procedure:
Step 1: A thorough physical examination
Before administering the chiropractic treatment itself, a professional will first examine the affected arm to determine the extent of the condition and any other damages. During the examination process, a chiropractor will focus on determining the following factors: level of pain, range of motion, and its effects on your daily movement patterns.
Step 2: The actual chiropractic care process
At first glance, the chiropractic care process seems like a more technical massage that involves detailed angles of attack and pressure-sensitive treatment methods. However, it is important to note several things that take place during the procedure:
- The breaking up of scar tissue: By using active release, chiropractors easily break up scar tissue to prevent any major limitations or barriers that prevent the correct function that causes pain.
- The increase in mobility: Chiropractors will also ensure the long-term health and usage of the elbow by performing joint manipulation procedures to stimulate the muscles. Designed to inhibit proper joint movement, joint manipulation involves the back-and-forth movement of your elbow to realign it and reinstate a proper range of motion.
- The reduction of inflammation: As a major factor that causes pain while adding psychological barriers that prevent full extension, inflammation is the main aspect that all chiropractors try to target immediately. Inflammation reduction is achieved through consistent joint adjustments and the breaking up of scar tissue, gradually restoring full functionality in the elbow.
Step 3: Post-treatment care and follow-up sessions
To keep the elbow in perfect health and free of golfer’s elbow, a chiropractor will prescribe several exercises and guidelines after the session to preserve the joint’s overall health. Most chiropractors will recommend follow-up sessions as well to gradually work the elbow into becoming even more functional and healthy over time.
With the help of an experienced chiropractor, golfer’s elbow can be remedied in the best way possible without having to rely on dangerous medicines and ineffective surgery. By scheduling a session with a chiropractor, your elbow will be nursed back to health and capable of full function in the long run.
If you’re looking for a chiropractor in NYC to help you with your Golfer’s Elbow, get in touch with Launchfit to see how we can help!
10/10/2019
How Chiropractic Care Can Address Back Pain in Sports
Professional athletes deal with rigid training, extensive workout, and high-level performances that they have to use much of their physical strength and power. When training goes overboard or when you make one single mistake, it can lead to potential injuries and body pain. That’s why it is common to see sports injuries, such as an ankle sprain, a hamstring strain, or knee injury, among others.
One thing that can’t be ignored and neglected, however, is back pain. Many people develop back pain after overexerting their bodies through training and performance for many years.
With chiropractic care, it helps every athlete deal with back pain and other types of injuries. In fact, a chiropractic regimen has to be incorporated into sports, as it serves as preparation for performance and prevention for any possible injuries.
Keep on reading to know how chiropractic care can help treat and alleviate back pain common in almost sports.
Problem: Back Pain in Sports
In most cases, sports enthusiasts, elite athletes, regular gym-goers, and even ordinary sports enthusiasts usually suffer from back pain. Back pain is said to be associated with different types of sports, which include gymnastics, diving, weight lifting, football, and rowing. Back pain can also be attributed to muscle strains, ligaments sprains, and soft tissue contusions, among others.
Some athletes, however, fail to incorporate chiropractic care as part of their training routine. Chances are they’ll only do so when they start having muscle aches and severe back pain. It’s essential to consider having sports massage to keep your body in good working condition. This is also for body maintenance to reduce possible injuries and improve overall performance.
Solution: Chiropractic Care for Back Pain
Part of chiropractic care is the sports massage. It is a firm, body-focused type of massage, specifically designed to reduce muscular tension, address minor injuries, and ease deep muscular pain and discomfort. It can be used for body maintenance in sports and rehabilitation from an injury. The goal is to improve performance during sports. Here’s how it works:
First, it assists in restoring mobility to injured muscles. It can help reduce stress, tight muscles, and pain. Second, it can help restore flexibility and a full range of motion. This can be done through massage-stretching. With this massage, the muscle can be stretched cross-fiber as well as longitudinally. Finally, sports massage can release any tension or pressure that has built up from exertion. This is performed by stretching the fascia that surrounds the muscle.
To initiate and perform a sports massage, a therapist will focus on a particular muscle group and the surrounding tissues associated with the injury using a combination of varied techniques. They help the patient move to a position where they won’t experience discomfort or have a limited range of movement. Generally, a program that includes stretching exercises is incorporated to assist with the whole treatment and correct any muscular imbalances.
Chiropractic Care for Sports
Ultimately, chiropractic care aims to identify and address disorders of the musculoskeletal and nervous systems. It promotes healing and alleviates pain by providing the best possible support for injured athletes.
Apart from chiropractic adjustments and spinal manipulation, sports massage is one facet of chiropractic healthcare that can be integrated for your sports regimen. Doing so will help you address back pain, alleviate your condition, and improve your performance.
If you have pulled muscle injury, book a therapy appointment with Launchfit now. Our qualified staff will evaluate your injury and determine the best course of action to launch you back to fitness.
If you’re looking for chiropractic care in NYC for your back pains, get in touch with Launchfit to see how we can help!
05/15/2018
Sports Injuries: Treatment and Recovery with Chiro and Physical Therapy
Recovery with Chiro and Physical Therapy
Whether it’s recreational or professional sports, the possibility of sustaining injuries while playing is always present. Though contact sports like football and basketball increase the chance of getting injured, swimmers, cyclists, and golfers also have their fair share of sports injuries.
First aid is very important to keeping the pain in check and preventing further damage to the affected area. Serious injuries may need
more than just an ice pack. Some may need regular rehab sessions to bring back peak performance while the worst injuries may call for surgery.
The most common sports injuries among professionals are pulled muscles, runner’s knee, shoulder impingement, shin splints, tennis elbow, ankle sprain, and Achilles tendonitis. Though these
rarely require evasive treatment, most may require physical therapy and chiropractic intervention for treatment and recovery.
Treatment will start with questions about your medical history, a physical exam, and other tests relevant to your injury. Thorough evaluation and a correct diagnosis of the injury will also result in providing the right treatment plan.
A chiropractor will check your posture, balance, and spine. A chiropractor will help you relieve tension in your body with manual adjustments to your spine and joints. Faster recovery, improved balance, and better performance can be achieved with regular visits.
Physical therapy will provide targeted exercises to relieve pain and reduce inflammation, after which a reconditioning treatment plan will help improve range of motion, flexibility, strength, and balance. Committing to the physical therapy and rehab can get you back to your game faster and safer.
Yes, enjoying your favorite sport is a great way to keep fit and healthy. However, there are a couple of tips that you should always remember: make sure that you warm up and cool down properly, and don’t overdo yourself and listen to your body.
11/17/2017
Running Form Analysis In NYC
Running Form Analysis Clinic in NYC
If you run regularly, I highly recommend having a professional running gait analysis performed. Having someone with expertise give you personalized tips can really help you to prevent injuries by improving the mechanics of your running form.
After running in a local 5K, I was entered in a drawing to win a few free sessions with a running coach. Against all odds and my previous experiences in such contests, I actually won.
Running gait analysis
When I had my running gait analyzed, I was told I took too few steps per minute. Runners should take 180 steps per minute. Elite runners have been shown to take 180 steps per minute or more naturally. This reduces the shock of the impact when the foot lands. If your foot hits the ground less frequently that means your body spends more time in the air. Your foot will then hit the ground with more force thus risking injury. Many injuries occur due to the impact of the runner’s foot with the ground. A great way to help you keep 180 steps per minute is to find some songs with 180 beats per minutes to listen to as you run.
I was also told that I needed to keep my wrists loose. There is a correlation between how relaxed your upper body is and your lower body. For example, if your shoulders are relaxed, your hips will be relaxed. If your elbows are relaxed, your knees will be relaxed. This also can help prevent injuries. Runners really need to consider the overall form of their entire body and not just the legs. Having this objectively measured by a pro really helps.
Running Biomechanics
Foot strike needs to be carefully evaluated as well. Which part of your foot hits the ground first and how does it hit? This can vary depending on if you are training for a sprint or a long-distance race. Sprinters tend to hit the ground with balls of their feet while distance runners tend to strike heel first. When the middle or heel of the foot hits first, it can help to reduce calf pain and injuries. Wherever the foot falls first, an important thing to remember is to avoid having your toes pointed outward. How your toes are pointed can be difficult for you to determine yourself so having someone else analyze this is important.
Residents of NYC can visit the Manhattan running lab to get a much more in-depth running form analysis in NYC than I had with the local running coach just running around a track. State of the art technology used there can really drill down to all the nuances of your gait. If someone can help you with the form of your foot strike and your breathing rhythms as the professionals at CLINICUBE can, you’ll be on your way to your best, injury free performances.