With summer upon us, many people will find themselves anxious to hit the field and partake in some of their favorite summer sports. While being active is key to having a healthy lifestyle, sports injuries are incredibly common and can turn a summer of fun into a summer of sitting on the bench. With this in mind, in part one of our blog series, we’ll look at a few ways that you can avoid sports injuries this summer.
Ozark Holistic Center is proud to provide all of our Fayetteville patients with the best in natural alternative medicine and chiropractic care. From treating sports injuries to autoimmune disorders, the professionals at Ozark Holistic Center are here to provide you with all-natural relief for a variety of different health issues. Visit us today!
Be Prepared
While many people choose to play team sports as a way to get into shape, doing so may not be the best decision in regards to avoiding sports injuries. Playing any sport requires more than just a basic knowledge of the game, especially if you want to improve your skills in that particular area. If you’re planning on playing any sport, you should be prepared to put a considerable amount of training and preparation into playing it. While regular exercise can help contribute to getting into better shape, being unprepared to play can cause you more harm than good, and if you’re not careful, you may find yourself injured as a result of your lack of preparation.
We always recommend that our clients come in regularly so they are at their peek performance. Dr. Ariciu goes to a local kettlebell gym every week and lifts some fairly heavy weights. If he was not moving right and prepared he would get injured quickly. Luckily he has chiropractic care and a good team at Ballistic Fitness that helps him with form and technique.
Always Warm Up Before Playing
Whether you’re getting ready for practice or preparing for a big game, no one should ever attempt to go into any sort of exercise without warming up beforehand. Going from no level of activity to rigorous running, jumping and other maneuvers can very easily put you in a position to be injured, but warming up before playing can help prevent you from being in this situation. Muscles that have been warmed up are less likely to be injured than ones that haven’t. Additionally, once you’ve warmed up, your body will be a position to perform at its best, which you undoubtedly want. Depending on what sport you’re playing, there are basic warm ups that you can do to help get you ready to perform at your absolute best.
Always Wear Protective Equipment
While this is likely the most obvious tip on the list, you’d be surprised by how many athletes find themselves injured because they failed to wear proper protective gear when playing their sport of choice. While some sports don’t allow players to participate without wearing proper protection, don’t forget to protect yourself during practice. You never know when you may encounter an accident scenario, and you don’t want to be unprepared in the instance that you do.
Furthermore, sometimes what we consider protective equipment is not really the case. Take for example running shoes and high-top shoes, they are designed to protect you from injury yet they change and challenge the natural gait pattern. At Ozark Holistic Center we encourage our athletes and clients to transition to barefoot shoes or even being barefoot.
One sport both Drs. Ariciu and Quinn participated in was skateboarding. Protective gear is a must, though unfashionably not cool. However, road rash, broken bones, cuts, and bruises are terrible things to deal with and can set your training back days, weeks, and even months. You don’t want to have to sit back with a broken leg while your peers are having fun. Furthermore, concussions and brain injuries are no laughing matter either. Skateboarding and many sports like it are prone to head injuries. So always wear a helmet and other protective gear if you are participating in these sports.
Visit Your Local Fayetteville Chiropractor
Whether you’re looking to make sure that you’re in proper shape before you start playing this season, or you’ve experienced a sports injury in the past and need to make sure that everything has healed up, the professionals at Ozark Holistic Center are here to be your Fayetteville chiropractor of choice. We will continue this discussion in part two of our blog series, but until then, for all of your Fayetteville chiropractic needs, visit Ozark Holistic Center today.
